The drink is a ‘Chu-Hi’ style beverage – one that combines alcohol with flavored carbonated water.
Coca-Cola announced plans for the drink in March and the new beverage hit shelves on Monday (27th) in Kyushu, Japan’s third largest island. It is available across convenience stores, supermarkets and mass merchandisers.
The drinks come in three varieties: containing 3%, 5% and 7% alcohol.
Coca-Cola says the play into alcohol is ‘unique’ in its history – save for a brief period via its Wine Spectrum subsidiary in the 1980s. However, it has no plans to expand the Lemon-Do product outside of Japan.
Traditional drinks in the Chu-Hi (チューハイ) category are made from alcohol (often Shōchū), carbonated water and lemon. Companies such as Suntory, Asahi and Kirin sell products in this category.