Introducing the World’s First Alcoholic Coca-Cola Drink

Coca-Cola has unveiled an alcoholic drink for the first time in its 125-year history.

The drinks giant launched a fizzy lemon flavoured alcopop in Japan yesterday – aimed at young women. The three drinks range from three per cent to eight per cent alcohol in a bid to cash-in on the growing market of young drinkers.

The three new ‘Lemon-Do’ drinks are available in the southern Kyushu region of Japan. A 350 ml can will set customers back 150 yen, which is around £1.

The recipes are a closely guarded secret but the drinks are modelled on the country’s popular Chu-Hi drinks which are a mix of local spirit and fruit flavors.

Chu-Hi - an abbreviation for shochu highball - has been marketed as an alternative to beer and has proved popular with female drinkers. The most popular flavors are strong citrus ones such as grapefruit or lemon. Japanese brands like Suntory, Asahi and Kirin currently dominate the sector for canned Chu-Hi drinks.

Coca-Cola says there are no plans to bring the new drinks range to markets outside Japan.

Masaki Iida, spokesman for Coca-Cola’s Japanese unit, said: “This is a pilot project in the region which has a sizeable market,’

Alcopops boomed in Europe and the UK in the 1990s with the likes of Smirnoff Ice, Hooper’s Hooch and Two Dogs dominating the market.

However, the drinks proved controversial with critics claiming they encouraged young people to drink alcohol due to their sugary taste.

In the autumn of 1996, the then Chancellor Kenneth Clarke increased the tax on them by 40 per cent.

Culled from https://www.msn.com