Named Coca Cola Coffee Plus, the new drink is currently available only in select Japanese vending machines.
Initial reports
The Japanese reporter who first broke the story, according to Google Translation, seems to not care much for the taste or the smell. Comments are based around it literally being as if somebody poured coffee into their Coca Cola can.
Others have reported that the initial flavor hits like a soda. It is noted that a coffee aftertaste kicks in afterwards.
Coca Cola Coffee reviews
It seems that the Coca Cola Coffee Plus is getting mixed reviews. Some do seem to like it, while others like the curious Japanese reporter, did not care much for it (although he says it is not that it tasted bad, either).
When poured out into a glass, it bubbles and seems to have the coloration of a regular Coca Cola, though.
Why would people drink Coca Cola Coffee?
And what is the most likely reason that people are grabbing this curious new drink to begin with?
Well, if you are coming for caffeine, then you are going to be pleasantly surprised by the 50% higher kick than a regular Coca Cola. This amount of 34mg, however, is still far short of the average coffee containing close to 100mg.
Who exactly are the targets of this new, strange concoction? People who drink soda to wake up presumably are not coffee drinkers, so why make it coffee flavored? Similarly, if you are a coffee drinker, you probably do not want to give up the extra caffeine and transition to an unhealthy soda.
Our guess why:
So, this leads us to believe that this is all a temporary publicity stunt of sorts.
Coca Cola likely wants to build up the interest and get a few extra sales, but ultimately will not likely result in a new and ongoing product category.
After all, Coca Cola Blaq had been launched in Europe and the United States and met a similar demise. Coca Cola Blaq was a coffee flavored soda introduced in 2006 and was discontinued in 2008.
Coca Cola Blaq had even more caffeine in it too with 46mg, and yet it still never really took off.
Other options
With Amazon showing a similar coffee flavored soda not selling well and having poor ratings, it seems to seal the fate that coffee and soda, despite both having caffeine, are not meant to be mixed together.
What do you guys think? Do you think Japan is quirky enough to make this successful? Would you ever try coffee flavored soda? Should we include it in our subscriptions because it is like both a snack and coffee all in one?
Let us know in the comments, or on Facebook.
