Sours - chilled cocktails in Japan

The summer 2021 in Kanto area in Japan was, as always, very hot and muggy. Refreshment in the evening was something to look forward to. Especially during COVID, choosing drinks became more fun compared to pre-COVID19 days.

One of the popular cocktail in Japan is Lemon Sour (Lemon Spirit Fizz). It is normally made of lemon juice, vodka or Shochu ( one of Japanese spirit) and fizzy water. With plenty of ice cube, the fizzy drink is tremendously refreshing. It is one of the favoured drink at Izakaya (Japanese pub). There are variation using different fruits, such as grape fruits, grape, umeshu(Japanese apricot liquor) etc.

As with most of people around the world during COVID days, I had my drinks at home. Going to a supermarket to choose canned sours became favourite routine. Rows of supermarket shelves were filled with various sours. Last year, many beverage companies somehow sold variety of sours, mainly lemon sours. The competition continued on this year as well.

I picked few sours which I haven’t tried before. My nieces’ favourite brand "Horoyoi" (meaning "tipsy" in Japanese) was on the shelves. I took a closer look.

The brand "Horoyoi" is one of the leading brand of sours by Suntory. It has canned sours with variety of tastes – according to Suntory's website, there are 16 different tastes, including peach, orange and blackcurrant, ginger, etc. Also there are seasonal varieties, such as apple or yuzu. I reckon this brand is targeted to young adults, as they are including popular varieties available at Izakayas, such as orange and cassis, or ume-shu. This is not very strong drink, with 3% ABV, so recommended to people not very strong with alcohol.

The "Horoyoi" brand is available in some of the Asian countries, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines and Singapore, and some 7-eleven stores in Malaysia under the name of "Hooyoi Shochu Coccktail".

I picked following. I liked umeshu sour best, very light and refreshingly sweet aroma.

Suntory “Horoyoi” White grape sour – 350ml, 3% ABV

Suntory “Horoyoi” Ume-shu soda sour – 350ml, 3% ABV

Suntory “Horoyoi” Peach and pear sour – 350ml, 3 ABV

Sinshuren Shonan Gold (Tangerine produced in Kanagawa prefecture) sour – 350ml, 4%ABV