If you’ve travelled in Japan you’ll surely have encountered the embarrassing moment where you dive into a glass of Coke only to find yourself swigging extra strong iced coffee. Fortunately you don’t need to read the language to be able to figure out what’s what (most of the time), with the help of our handy visual identification guide.
| Colour | Sparkling | Still, cold | Still, hot | Alcoholic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clear | Sparkling Water | Water | Hot water | Sake rice wine |
| Cloudy | Lemonade | Energy drink probably citrus flavoured with electrolytic salts | Flavoured sake rice wine | |
| Green | Melon soda | Cold Green tea | Hot green tea | Midori melon spirit |
| Purple | Grape soda | Purple sweet potato | Probably some kind of tea | |
| Dark brown | Cola | Iced coffee | Black coffee | Whisky |
| Pink | Cherry blossom soda | Strawberry milkshake | ||
| Red | Cherry soda | Iced tea, probably sweetened | Black tea | Red wine |
| Yellow | Lemon/lime soda | Iced tea with lemon, probably sweetened with honey | Yuzu (lemon) tea with honey | |
| Milk White | Sparkling Calpis – a yoghurt drink also known as Calpico | Calpis – a yoghurt drink | Soy milk | Flavoured sake rice wine |
| Blue | “Soda” flavour akin to bubblegum flavour | Blue curacao non alcoholic | A rare kind of Green Tea | Blue curacao |
| Light brown | Sparkling ice tea | Iced tea, probably unsweetened | Black tea | Beer |