Rolling Stones make drinking MUCH more fun

There is always something interesting and exciting happening at your local Japanese supermarket. Ok, I realize that this sounds strange but if you have spent any time here in Japan you would soon find out that from incentive gifts for purchasing multiples of items to crazy products going to the grocery store is always an adventure. Today during my trip to the supermarket I encountered one of these items and much to the liking of the product placement people I couldn't help but pick some up.

What drew me in was the very recognizable Rolling Stones logo along with the bright yellow color of the packaging and boxes surrounding the product. The first one that I saw was the "Rolling Gold" bottle which screamed rock and roll at me and I could not help myself until I then turned the corner to see a number of other types. It turns out that the products weren't necessarily different but it turns out that these three types of drinks (which I will explain here in a moment) come in both a can and bottle variety.

Once I got home I started doing some research to find out more information about these products. According to a few articles these drinks are part of a campaign by Suntory to target some of the younger drinking audience who prefer drinks with a lower alcohol content. This is evident with the relatively low alcohol content in these drinks (between 4 and 5%). Of course this is not to target under age children but rather to target the drinkers in their early twenties (drinking age in Japan is 20 year old). The "Stones Bar" as it is called consists of three different drinks which both come in glass bottles and in cans. There is a beer, an energy drink flavored drink and a high ball (ginger ale and whisky). These flavors are very popular here in Japan and therefore there is essentially something for everyone here in the Stones Bar.

Today I have only picked up two drinks, one is the energy drink flavored one called "Rolling Gold" and the other is the highball called "Citrus Highball". I had tasted both and they were both very good although I like the Rolling Gold quite a bit and later regretted getting an entire case. Of course the highball is extremely straight forward it tastes of ginger ale and whisky with a hint of lemon and lime. It is a bit sweeter than some other highball varieties which are on the market which was good in my opinion. Rolling Gold was my absolute favorite. This tasted like smarties which which is sweet and citrusy. To be completely honest it is difficult to describe but if you have the chance to try it I would give it a shot.

The price on these items were similar to other products. The glass bottle was about 200 yen which is a good price for a glass bottled drink here. The can was about 180 yen which again was not that bad for a drink although if you are looking for a buzz there are other products with much more alcohol content that could have been purchased for the same low cost. Personally when I want to get a good buzz going I prefer something that is about 8 or 9% alcohol. Then again if you want something that had alcohol in it and tastes great without any flavor or sting of alcohol this is a good choice. I would also recommend this for an event when you might be wanting to drink for a long period of time. Overall this is a great product which I would definitely recommend.