Japan is in a class of its own when it comes to regional specialities. It’s what keeps travelling around the country — whether somewhere urban or rural — such an endless pleasure. Most recently, craft cola is the latest addition to the local specialties for many regions.

This craft cola is Bando Foods Awa Tokushima Cola from Tokushima Prefecture and combines sudachi, yuko and yuzu citrus with awabancha tea and an original blend of spices. Awabancha is a post-fermented tea (like Chinese pu’er) produced in Tokushima prefecture.

Mixing one part concentrate with four parts soda water, the beverage was a semi-opaque brown colour with visible flecks of tea floating on the surface and spice dust at the base. It had a sweetly spiced aroma much like chai. Served chilled, sweet notes at the head of each sip developed swiftly with deep earthy notes of old wood — much like the flavour of pu’er — before the scent of citrus emerged in the body with an elegant sourness that combined with prominent notes of cardamon that together dominated the rest of the sip.

The overall flavour was a cola that was spicy and refreshing with an elegantly balanced sourness and no astringency. The flavour of the individual citrus components was near impossible to distinguish but their presence elevated the spiced aspect much like in bitters. Those after the more familiar flavours of mainstream cola may be disappointed by its closer parallels to a spiced herbal tea. Indeed, it could also be mixed with milk to make a drink like a spiced tea or chai latte.

This Bando Foods Awa Tokushima Cola contained 200 mL. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2022.