Taste test: Final Fantasy potion procured

Yesterday, Suntory released a new canned version of the Final Fantasy VII: 10^th Anniversary Potion. Unlike the oddly shaped bottles, the cans are widely available at local convenience stores. The above photo was taken in a Family Mart. While it’s easy just to get a can to drink, it’s difficult to find cans with Cloud, Aerith, Tifa or Zack. I couldn’t find one of Zack, but I managed to get the last Cloud and Aerith cans hiding in the back shelf.

Here is a look a closer look at the cans.

Now a shot with the Aerith can.

I don’t know if have quite the palette that vysethebold has, but I’m going to take a shot at reviewing a soft drink. I poured the contents of the Cloud can (gasp!) into a glass. The liquid has a greenish tint. Bubbles fizz up, it’s slightly carbonated. Just for comparison’s sake I poured water in another glass so you can see how it measures up to crystal clear tap water.

Before I drank this one thought was running through my mind: herbal tonic. Last year’s potion was described that way and somehow that didn’t sound like a refreshing soft drink to me. Here goes nothing…

The smell has a hint of citrus to it, like a lighter version of Surge soda. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. *Gulp* Hey! This isn’t half bad. It’s like one of those fizzy vitamin drinks you can get for a hundred yen in a vending machine, except the potion costs double the price. Actually, it’s kind of like a bubbly version of Lemon-Lime Gatorade from the States, not really what I thought of when I first took a sip of it.

Taste test two… as a mixer. I grabbed some left over vodka lying around and mixed it 50/50 with the potion. OK… not too bad. It gives the potion sort of a melon-y aftertaste. Could make a cool shot, but it’s not going to cut it as a standalone cocktail. I bet something lighter like Shochu would fit the bill better.