In Japan, there are many ways to get your caffeine fix, from Starbucks to Doutor to Mr. Donuts. If you’re cheap like me though, you’ll get it from the combini. When I first got here, I was amazed at the little cans of hot coffee that are sold through the winter, but now I prefer the cold cup-like coffee that comes in specially shaped containers, made to look like the classy cuppa you’d get from Starbucks. They have a plastic top, which is just for show since the coffee is kept in by a foil seal. It’s another thing which has just become a signal to say ‘This is an expensive tasting cup of coffee’. My favourite for a long time has been Mount Rainer. It’s the cheapest (137 yen!) and tastes smooth and creamy, not like the harsh taste from canned milk coffee.

Today though, I thought I’d try something different and got an altogether classier coffee. It’s called ‘Mugi Cafe Ole’ (Barley cafe au lait) or to give it it’s full and majestic title, ‘Sekai no Kitchen kara, Koobashi Mugi Cafe Ole Expresso & Orzo’. Phew! It didn’t taste all as wonderful as it’s name, but I managed to finish it. I guess I’ll be going back to my Mt. Rainier next time.

Apparently, Orzo is the Italian word for barley, and Koobashii is a kind of enjoyably heavy sweet/savoury aroma.

I wanted to show some of the wonderful points about this kind of coffee container. The straw is always attached to the side, and you sort of press at the top to push it out. Once out, you pull it to double it’s length, so you can reach right down to the bottom of the cup to get all that creamy goodness out. The bottom part of the straw is thinner than the top, but it catches in the middle to make it airtight. One of my favourite features with these straws is the little groove along the side of the straw, which ensures that air can get in as you drink. And when I finish the coffee, I get a strange satisfaction from pushing the straw right in and twirling the plastic top to make it disappear.

The top of the container is entirely for aesthetics and has no real function. I guess you could say it keeps germs away from the place the straw touches and also makes it easier to stack, but it’s a stretch. Funnily, although I’m very against the overuse of plastic in packaging, this is one place that I’ll concede to it. I really do think that it improves the look and makes the whole experience of drinking this coffee more enjoyable.

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Tags: aesthetics, beauty, caffeine, can, coffee, drinks, japan, japanese, mount rainier, plastic

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