To say they do things a bit different in Japan would be a gross understatement with Fanta being no exception. In fact they have a ton of different varieties but the weirdest has to be Calpis Fanta?
WTF is Calpis Fanta and indeed WTF is cowpiss I hear you ask? Well thats a whole weird story
What is Calpis and why do Japanese drink it
Calpis is like the OG fermented milk drink in Japan and it has been around since 1919 which is apparently before even Coca Cola landed here. Its made from water nonfat milk and lactic acid bacteria which basically makes it like a slightly tangy yoghurt water. Sounds disgusting right but somehow it works. It has this sweet and sour vibe that is weirdly refreshing especially when its ice cold in the sticky Japanese summer
You’ll find Calpis in various forms like Calpis Water which is the regular flat version and Calpis Soda which is the fizzy one that most foreigners try first. There’s also a concentrate that Japanese mums use to mix with water or even freeze into popsicles. Then there are limited flavours like Calpis Grape Calpis Mango and even Calpis Butter Milk which was a wartime favourite apparently. Abroad it goes by the much less funny name Calpico which I guess was to stop Americans laughing at the name sounding like cow piss
There are similar drinks in other countries like Korea’s Milkis or Yakult which is also from Japan but more probiotic focused. But Calpis remains uniquely Japanese and genuinely loved by people of all ages.
And Fanta Calpis
When I picked up the bottle my Japanese friend was like “oh thats Fanta Calpis” LIKE IT WAS NORMAL which hmm apparently it is. This is because Fanta much like other brands in the country do things very very differently to how they are in other countries.
So Fanta Calpis or Fanta YogurRush as its sometimes called is basically the mutant child of fizzy soda and lactic acid bacteria. It looks like milk gone wrong but is surprisingly drinkable. It’s white opaque and comes in a clear bottle that screams weird Japanese vending machine energy. It is sweet and tangy and slightly creamy but not in a gross way. Very much a soda first yoghurt second kind of deal.
This is not even the weirdest Fanta in Japan though. There’s Fanta Melon Cream Soda Fanta Mellow Muscat Fanta Golden Kiwi and even a salty lemon version that tasted like something you’d mix with tequila on a dare. And yes I will later do a whole #FantaQuestJapan article to catalogue all this devils candy!
How does Fanta Calpis taste
I have to try other varieties within the Calpis genre but I was actually surprised how un milky or yoghurt like the drink was. In fact for the most part it just tasted more like a vanilla type soda and was pretty refreshing.
It was a bit tangy as it is often described but again more a soda than a yogurt drink. Does it mix with booze? Well alas I did not try it out but I would hazard that it would mix well with vodka
Overall a strong FantaQuest 7.5 out of 10 for Calpis Fanta