This is the Kimura Shizuoka Muskmelon Cider. It contained 2% juice from ‘aroma melon’ grade muskmelons grown in Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan, and was made in collaboration with Melox, the Shiuzoka Prefecture Greenhouse Agricultural Cooperative that specialises in growing greenhouse muskmelons.
The beverage was a semi-transparent bright green colour with a sweet aroma of ripe honeydew and a high carbonation. Served chilled, bright notes of melon emerged at the head of each sip with a restrained sweetness. This developed with the fragrant flavour of the fruit’s firm flesh into the body where the sweetness culminated to recall the intense, yet refined, sweetness at the centre of the fruit. With the tiny bubbles cleansing the palate at the end of each sip, the drink left no lingering aftertaste.
The overall muskmelon — or honeydew melon — flavour tasted natural yet some may consider it veering into artificiality as it was more intense than the fruit we have in Australia. Given Japan’s penchant for cultivating intensely sweet and big fruit, it would be unsurprising that the flavour would match their fruits.
This Kimura Shizuoka Muskmelon Cider contained 240 mL. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2022.