Coca-Cola Is Launching Their First Alcoholic Drink Ever

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Despite being founded in 1892, Coca-Cola has never made an alcoholic drink. They may have had other special ingredients such as coca leaves (which is what cocaine is derived from), but they have never made an alcoholic beverage until now. Coca-Cola announced that they are making their first alcoholic drink, but it will only be available in Japan.

Coca-Cola’s first-ever alcoholic drink will be their take on Chu-Hi or chūhai, a canned low-alcohol beverage that is popular in Japan, especially among women. The Chu-Hi is made from the shōchū spirit, which is “typically distilled from rice (kome), barley (mugi), sweet potatoes (satsuma-imo), buckwheat (soba), or brown sugar (kokutō).”

The alcopop is a slightly spiked carbonated water that has a 3% to 8% alcohol by volume. The alcoholic drink typically comes in fruity flavors such as lime, lemon, grapefruit, apple, orange, pineapple, grape, kyoho grape, kiwi, lychee, peach, and strawberry cream.

“We haven’t experimented in the low alcohol category before, but it’s an example of how we continue to explore opportunities outside our core areas. Coca-Cola has always focused entirely on non-alcoholic beverages, and this is a modest experiment for a specific slice of our market,” said Jorge Garduño, Coca-Cola’s Japan business unit president.

While the thought of the convenience of an already-made Jack and Coke sounds like a no-brainer, don’t expect Coca-Cola to bring alcoholic drinks stateside anytime soon.

“The Chu-Hi category is found almost exclusively in Japan. Globally, it’s not uncommon for non-alcoholic beverages to be sold in the same system as alcoholic beverages. It makes sense to give this a try in our market,” Garduño added. “I don’t think people around the world should expect to see this kind of thing from Coca-Cola. While many markets are becoming more like Japan, I think the culture here is still very unique and special, so many products that are born here will stay here,” Garduño said of the new drink.

So it sounds like you will have to make your own Jack and Cokes for the foreseeable future.

[Fortune]