() is a Japanese carbonated

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

. It was introduced in 1884 in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

by the British pharmacist Alexander Cameron Sim. is available in a Codd-neck bottle, a heavy glass bottle whose mouth is sealed by a round marble (instead of a cap) due to the pressure of the carbonated contents. The name is derived from a Japanese borrowing of the English word '' lemonade''.

History

In 1884, Sim introduced this carbonated beverage based on lemonade to the Kobe foreign settlement. This drink, sold in the distinctive Codd-neck bottle, soon became very popular with the local Japanese after it was advertised in the Tokyo Mainichi Newspaper as a preventative for

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

. The drink remains a popular soft drink, sold worldwide, under the name of .

Bottle design

is known for its distinctive Codd-neck bottle (named after its inventor, Hiram Codd). Although the Codd-neck bottle was once commonly used for carbonated drinks, today , along with Banta, is one of its very few users. People trying for the first time sometimes find it difficult to drink, as it takes practice to learn to stop the marble from blocking the flow. In one version of the bottle introduced in 2006, little slots were added to the cap where the marble was originally held. This prevented the flow from obstruction if the marble falls back into the cap. is also available in plastic bottles and

aluminum cans Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

. is one of the modern symbols of

summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

in Japan and is widely consumed during warm festival days and nights. Empty bottles are usually collected for recycling at stalls where it is sold.

Flavours

The original flavour is lime-lemon. Including the original, there have been 57 flavours of . As the popularity of continues to grow, there have been many novel packaging designs and a variety of flavours, including collaborations with popular Japanese franchises such as Hello Kitty and

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

. Some common flavours include peach, melon and bubble gum, while some unusual flavours include

takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bod ...

, curry and wasabi.

References

{{Japanese food and drink Japanese drinks Lemon-lime sodas Soft drinks Scottish inventions 1884 introductions

History

Bottle design

Flavours

See also

References