REVIEW: Green Tea Coke Plus With Catechin

It’s hard to imagine why it’s taken so long for the Japanese makers of Coke to come up with the Green Tea Coke Plus with Catechin. After all, the Japanese love green tea. They love it HARD. I think they love it just as much as smoking, manga, short schoolgirl skirts, posing for pictures and physically abusive game shows.

I’m also surprised the American makers of Coke didn’t come up with it sooner because, as they’ve proven time and time again, they’ll shoehorn almost anything into their cola. They’ll shoehorn it HARD. Some ingredients they’ve added to Coke or Diet Coke include: coffee, vanilla, black cherry, lime, lemon, Splenda, cherry and zeros.

Although it doesn’t specifically say on its label, the Green Tea Coke Plus with Catechin is really less like regular Coke and more like either Diet Coke or Coke Zero since it contains artificial sweeteners and no calories. Despite its name, it doesn’t contain vitamins like the U.S. version of Diet Coke Plus. The “plus” in this soda’s name is either for the catechins the green tea provides or it’s being marketed to sumo wrestlers.

Catechins are antioxidants and are mostly found in teas, but also in some chocolates. Studies have shown that catechins prevent plaque from building up on artery walls, some forms of cancer and aging. In my personal studies with catechins and green tea, it seems to turn me into a pompous ass by making me extend my pinky outward when drinking tea.

The Green Tea Coke Plus’ smell and initial flavor reminds me of the American version of Coke Zero, but not as prominent, which doesn’t surprise me because Coke from Japan tends to have a slightly muted flavor compared with their American counterparts. The green tea flavor doesn’t kick in until a few moments later, but when it does, it’s subtle and without any of the bitterness that green tea is known for.

Being someone who enjoys Coke Zero, I enjoyed the flavor of the Green Tea Coke Plus with Catechin, although I wish it had a little bit more green tea flavor. As for the catechins, I think you’d be better off drinking cups of regular green tea because there’s probably not a significant amount of catechins in each bottle of Green Tea Coke Plus, unlike green tea itself.

But overall, I like it HARD.

(Note: Orchid64, who purchased and sent the Green Tea Coke Plus for me, also reviewed it, along with Mike’s Blender. Also, below is a stupid experiment I did with the second bottle of Green Tea Coke Plus I had. It’s stupid because I totally wasted a good bottle of soda that’s hard for me to obtain. Enjoy my wastefulness.)

Item: Green Tea Coke Plus With Catechin
Price: 147 yen
Size: 500 ml
Purchased at: Received from Orchid64
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: I like it HARD. Tastes like Coke Zero. No calories. Easy to drink. I guess some catechins are better than no catechins. Green tea. Short schoolgirl skirts on women 18 years old or older. Japanese game shows.
Cons: Only available in Japan. Not enough green tea flavor for me. Not sure how much catechins it provides, but it’s probably not much. Wasting a perfectly good bottle of soda with a stupid dated Mentos experiment.

17 thoughts to “REVIEW: Green Tea Coke Plus With Catechin”

  1. I think you should have put the Mentos in your mouth while drinking the soda. Then maybe we’d have a cool video featuring you projectile vomiting.

  2. I only realized lately that Diet Coke in Japan has a more subdued flavor than that in Japan. It wasn’t until I got my greasy mitts on couple of cases of American Diet Coke that I remembered the difference. I swear U.S. Diet Coke has a quasi-vanillish flavor that the Japanese stuff doesn’t.

    I think it was only fitting that you “exploded” that with Mentos considering fear of detonating bottles of soda were in the air when it was sent to you. 😉

  3. HOLY CRAP… that asian poses website is the funniest thing i have seen in a while. present company excluded, of course.

  4. Ooh that looks good! I love Coke and green tea. The last pop/green tea combo I had was the ginger ale and that was really good too.
    Coke zero in the states tastes different then here in Canada.. come to think of it all coke products do.

  5. @lex – yeah when I was over in Europe, all Coke products taste for different from U.S. coke products. Not sure what is up with that

  6. So…should they have said Coca-Cola with Catechin, or with Catechins?

    I mean if one Catechin is good, then a bunch should be better.

  7. This looks really good.

    If you are able to find it, I recommend Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale. I don’t know how much green tea is actually in it, but it is really yummy.

  8. Hmmm mabey this could be one of those proto-type sodas that could lead to somthing extraordinary… I happen to like green tea a great deal a product like this would be right up my alley!

  9. 1) Wish they made it here in the US
    2) Wish they made it in diet for us who can’t have too much sugar 😛

  10. @Frenchman: I miss Coke Blak. I wonder if they still make it?

    @Chuck: I probably would’ve ended up choking on one of the Mentos and killing myself, then the story would end up on Digg and make me Internet famous.

    @Orchid64: That subdued flavor is what I like about Coke from Japan. It makes drinking Coke so much easier, although that is a bad thing. The easier it is to drink the more I’ll drink it.

    @Alex: I think it’s funny too. Actually, I think it’s the funniest thing involving Asians, including TIB. It’s definitely cuter.

    @cian: At least it wasn’t coke coke. Ya know. Snort, snort. That would’ve been even more of a waste.

    @Bear Silber: Probably not, but I believe sleeping on a bed of tea leaves might help with that.

    @Gregory Ng: The Frozen Food Master: I’d suggest eBay, although you’ll be paying an arm and a leg for it.

    @amanda: I doubt it, unless the American makers of Coke grow a huge pair of balls.

  11. @lex: Coke from Japan tastes different than Coke here in the US. I’d like to blame the HFCS, but I think the water also has something to do with it.

    @Matt: But too many catechins might turn us into zombies.

    @grinder: I probably won’t be able to find it, like Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms.

    @Woodenhand: Perhaps Coke here might release it as a limited edition products, but I highly doubt it.

    @Erin: Technically this product could be considered “diet” because of its use of artificial sweeteners. I hope it makes it here too.

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