Popular handsome chefs gathered for a tasting event of Coca-Cola's first lemon sour brand "Lemon-dou"!
Which Lemon-dou did each chef pick as his favorite!?
"Lemon Sour" is now a regular alcoholic drink included in the menu of literally all drinking establishments in Japan. The combination of fresh, fruity citrus flavor and the crisp sizzling effect of carbonation matches well with any food.
"Lemon-dou" is Coca-Cola's first lemon sour brand developed to respond to the growing demand of lemon sour lovers wanting to "enjoy the authentic taste of Lemon Sour not only in the drinking places but also at home". "Lemon-dou" has various features designed to enhance the luxurious feel of enjoying this drink at home. One of them is the unique "pre-blending lemon process" adopted to manufacture this product.
"Lemon-dou" is manufactured through a unique "pre-blending lemon process".
In "pre-blending lemon process". a new approach derived from the technique of adding water to shochu beforehand to make the shochu and water blend well and make the drink taste smoother, fully grated lemons are dipped in liquor beforehand to gain the same effect as the pre-blended shochu-water mix.
So, how good does "Lemon-dou" taste? We thought it would be a good idea to have the taste evaluated by professionals. So, we invited four well-known (and good-looking!) local chefs, Soichiro Sugitani-san (Bel-Ami), Taiki Yonezawa-san (Sumiyaki Berami), Yoshihiro Asada-san (Aoi Libero) and Shingo Shu-san (Teppanyaki Calvo※slated to open in January 2020) to a tasting event we organized in "Bel-Ami", a popular stand in Sannomiya (Chuo-ku, Kobe) run by one of the invited chefs, Sugitani-san.
The tasting event was held in "Bel-Ami", a popular stand in Sannomiya (Chuo-ku, Kobe). We asked these professionals who all hold their own philosophy on taste to try out the four different Lemon-dou flavors and evaluate each of them according to their refined gustatory sense
| 【Oni Lemon】 |
alcohol content 9% / lemon juice 17% / 350ml Contains fresh lemon juice squeezed from one and one-half lemons. Strong type of lemon sour with high alcohol content. |
|---|---|
| 【Shio Lemon】 |
alcohol content 7% / lemon juice 7% / 350ml Lemon sour with slightly high alcohol content that offers a refreshing taste enhanced with a pinch of salt. |
| 【Teiban Lemon】 |
alcohol content 5% / lemon juice 10% / 350ml Classic blend aimed to receive wide support from lemon sour lovers nationwide. |
| 【Hachimitsu Lemon】 |
alcohol content 3% / lemon juice 7% / 350ml Lemon sour with low alcohol content that is slightly sweetened with honey. |
We planned to hold this event from our sheer curiosity of wanting to know which of the four flavors that differed in the percentage of alcohol and fruit juice contained would be chosen by discerning chefs as their favorite. Which flavor do you think these professionals chose as their highly recommended Lemon-dou?
Cheers!!! So, gentlemen, which Lemon-dou flavor would you recommend?
The four tried out each of the four different lemon sour flavors. Which flavor do you think they chose as their favorite?
- Soichiro Sugitani-san (Bel-Ami) recommends Hachimitsu Lemon!
- "The honey and lemon flavors both stand out. It is sweet, but it's quite subtle, so you don't feel it's too sweet. I think those who are not that strong with alcoholic beverages would love this drink with low alcohol content and consider it their preferred choice. I personally would like to drink this slowly in a lazy mood after meal!"
- Taiki Yonezawa-san (Sumiyaki Berami) recommends Oni Lemon!
- "I'm just amazed by the deeply condensed lemon juice flavor I get from this drink! It's a strong type of spirit but doesn’t smell that alcoholic, so I drank up quite fast without feeling like it was an alcoholic beverage. The strong punch you feel after you take a sip will be perfect match with fried food! "
- Yoshihiro Asada-san (Aoi Libero) recommends Shio Lemon!
- "It's easy to drink even if the alcohol content is a relatively high 7%, because I could clearly sense the real taste of lemon juice. The clear after-taste with some saltiness, I think, matches well with grilled meat."
- Shingo Shu-san (Teppanyaki Calvo) recommends Teiban Lemon!
- "As the product name "teiban" suggests, it represents the taste of lemon sour served widely in drinking establishments. I usually drink Highball, but with this, I can order it repeatedly! The fresh lemon flavor helps me drink up fast!"
The four chefsZ'individual choice differed with each, just like the varied drinking experiences offered from each of the four flavors of Lemon-dou that respectively contained different percentage of alcohol and fruit juice. The good news is that the best choice does not have to be the same all the time and may differ depending what kind of mood you are in, and what's on the menu.
How about sharing a little luxurious home-drinking experience with your family or friends?
The name of the venue we chose for this tasting event, "Bel-Ami", is a French term known as the title of a novel written by a 19th-century French writer, Guy de Maupassant, and it means "beautiful male friends".
Even after the tasting event was over, the four chefs kept chatting away with "Lemon-dou" in one hand, as you can see in this photo. They certainly look like "beautiful male friends"!!
Just like them, we hope you also have a good time enjoying "Lemon-dou" together with your family, friends and loved ones!
*You have to be 20 years old or over to drink alcohol. Enjoy in moderation.