Hita Pear Juice

Brand: Pokka Sapporo

Cost: 130 yen

Found At: Vending Machine

I have been ogling this juice all summer. I see it every morning as I walk to the subway station, in its little pastel-colored bottle, and I can’t help being attracted to the cute, cheerful packaging. I kept fantasizing about how refreshing it would be on a hot day, encouraged by promises of “fresh taste” and blue raindrops framing the logo. And today, after three months of hot summer, I finally caved and bought what I had so long denied myself.

The first thing I realized was that this was not pear juice but Asian pear juice. And because of this, it was much milder than I anticipated – not as sweet or tart as apple or pear juice. It tasted exactly like the expensive Asian pears that I had also been coveting in the grocery store that morning. This gentle flavor was perfect for a hot, muggy day when you don’t want to feel sticky from a sickly-sweet juice. It was, as advertised, very refreshing. The only downside was that it contained only 1% of actual fruit juice. I had been tricked by the clean, pastel colors into thinking that I was getting real juice when in fact, this was just another artificially flavored water. But credit where credit is due, Pokka must have some amazing scientists in its beverage department, because until I read the bottle, I was completely taken in.