Besides Coke, Fanta is arguably the most popular brand produced by the Coca-Cola Company.
It features different fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks, including the iconic Fanta Orange variant.
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Fanta Flavors Across The World
Worldwide, there are more than 200 different flavors, most of which are designed to meet specific market needs.
For instance, the classic Fanta Orange is available in the US and Japan, but they taste different.
The US variant contains artificial flavorings, while the Japanese Fanta Orange has real orange juice and extract.
Generally – Japanese Fanta flavors are fruitier than others from the rest of the world. However, here are some unique variants to try when visiting the Land of the Rising Sun.
Most Popular Fanta Flavors In Japan
1. Fanta Melon Soda
Fanta Melon soda is a Japanese flavor that isn’t easy to find in other countries, including the USA and Coca-Cola’s motherland. However, it’s abundant in Japan.
The flavor’s ubiquity is easy to understand, as melon-flavored products are popular among the Japanese. You can find melon bread and even sweets with the fruit’s flavor.
Besides the country’s association with melons, the Fanta Melon flavor has cut a niche. The locals adore it, which has been the case since its introduction around 30 years ago.
A testament to its influence is a cottage industry that produces melon-flavored treats that taste like soda.
Melon ice cream floats are popular in Japanese streets. This treat is a combo of ice cream and Fanta Melon soda.
Fanta Melon soda tastiness makes it appealing to tourists.
It blends Fanta’s trademark sugary carbonated flavor with a fruity melon element, resulting in a familiar and unexpected taste that excites Westerners.
The soda is sweet and refreshing, but picky individuals might need time to acquaint themselves with the melon flavor.
2. Fanta Premier Lemon
As the name suggests, Fanta Premier Lemon is a ‘premium’ soft drink with a chic and unique taste.
It’s a significant improvement on the Fanta Citrus variant, as it features bold and sophisticated flavoring that appeals to people who want a sugary touch to the sourness of citrus fruits.
In addition, its recipe aims to tap into childhood nostalgia without losing touch with adult sensations.
It achieves this objective by providing a nice balance of tart and sweetness with a tinge of sugariness.
Additionally – Fanta Premier Lemon has another flavor that isn’t common in soft drinks – bitterness.
It’s not pronounced, and it usually takes time to notice. However, once you taste it, you’ll know that this is not your normal Fanta variant that kids like. Instead, it’s made for adults.
3. Fanta Japanese Citrus
Fanta Japanese Citrus is a limited-edition soft drink made using the sweet and sour Iyokan citrus native to Japan.
When opened, it evokes a tangy tangerine odor.
It’s as fizzy as Coke and also matches its refreshing ability. The bright taste and color signify Japanese spring, the period when Iyokan fruits are abundant.
The most significant difference between Fanta Orange and Fanta Japanese Citrus is the latter is sweeter and has some tartness.
You can find this flavor at most convenience stores, but being a limited edition, nobody knows how long it will last.
4. Fanta Okinawa Shikuwasa Fruit
Fanta Okinawa Shikuwasa Fruit flavor is one of the rarest carbonated soft drinks worldwide.
However, it’s exclusively available in Japan’s Okinawa region, making its taste unknown to many, including soda addicts.
The Shikuwasa fruit gives the drink a unique citrus flavor. Shikuwasa combines two terms – shi, which means ‘sour,’ and kuwasa, meaning ‘to eat.’
So, Shikuwasa translates to eat sourness.
However, the drink blends the fruit extract’s sour taste with a bit of sugar from artificial flavorings to give it a distinct, sweet-sour flavor.
5. Fanta Salty Watermelon
Japanese winters can get extremely cold. Similarly, summers can be too hot and unbearable.
Usually, many people succumb to heatstroke between July and August, when temperatures are highest.
Coca-Cola Japan developed a solution to the heat problem by introducing the Fanta Salty Watermelon flavor.
As the Name Suggests – Its two main ingredients are salt and watermelon. Although it’s unusual for sodas to contain salt, Coca-Cola says it helps nourish, replenish and hydrate the body.
Furthermore, it reduces the risk of heatstroke by replacing the salts and electrolytes lost through sweating.
Besides its health benefits, Fanta Salty Watermelon is a classic Japanese summertime drink. It explains why soda is so prevalent in the country, making it hard to find it on shelves.
6. Fanta White Peach
Fanta White Peach looks like fizzy water milk, which is what you want in a carbonated soft drink. Moreover, it smells and tastes like peach.
The best thing about this variant is its mild carbonation.
Coca-Cola included just the right amount of carbon dioxide – it’s enough to make it fizzy like soda but not too overbearing to subdue the natural peach juice flavor.
When you add ice, it loses some of the flavorings.
So it won’t taste as lovely as drinking it straight from the bottle, but the reduced carbonation makes it feel like peach juice.
Due to its rarity, this Fanta is expensive. You can only get it in specialty shops and online platforms.
7. Fanta Shine Muscat
Fanta Shine Muscat is a seasonal flavor available during autumn and winter.
It’s a mildly fizzy soft drink made using the Shine Muscat, large, seedless fruit with light green skin and yellowish flesh.
When the fruit extract is combined with artificial flavorings, it produces a distinct taste tartier than the standard Fanta Grape variant.
Precisely – It tastes like jelly candies from your childhood years. The drink also has a strong, pleasant grape-like odor.
8. Fanta Premier Grape
Fanta Premier Grape is a relatively new addition to the Japanese Fanta production line.
Its main difference from the traditional grape flavor is its fruit content.
While the standard Fanta Grape has negligible amounts of grape extract, Fanta Premier Grape contains 13% natural grape extract, making it more of a juice than your regular soda.
This explains the Minute Maid logo printed on its bottle.
Another difference between the two grape-flavored drinks lies in the density. The Premier variant is thicker than the standard flavor, meaning you can’t see through when poured into a glass.
Regarding scent, the standard grape has an artificial grape smell. On the contrary, Fanta Premier Grape smells like wine.
While Fanta Grape is suitable for all age groups, the Premier flavor targets adults. It’s an ideal choice for treating someone special, given that it’s a limited-edition product.
9. Fanta Yogurt Rush Yellow Peach
The Yogurt Rush Yellow Peach is yet another limited-edition Fanta.
It’s a seasonal drink produced in spring.
Despite the name, the yellow peach flavor is stronger than the yogurt flavor.
It also has a relatively low density for a drink that’s supposed to have yogurt. Regardless, it’s tasty and refreshing and will likely leave you craving for more.
Wrapping Up
It isn’t surprising that Japan’s idiosyncrasies extend to the soda industry.
After all, the nation is famous for having a diverse culinary culture, including some of the rarest foods known to man.
Japan boasts of some of the world’s unique Fanta flavors. While most are seasonal, others are exclusively available in the country throughout the year.
Japanese Fanta flavors are worth a try, whether it’s a special occasion treat or you want to taste something new.
It’s worth noting that rarer variants attract higher prices.
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