Japanese Canned Coffee | Comprehensive Guide by Japanese Webmaster

‘Canned Coffee’ is very popular drink in Japan. Japanese call it as ‘Can Coffee’ (without ‘ed’) and there is very high popularity in Japanese market.

In this article, I would like to provide complete guide to you for good understanding of this Japanese products. Thank you !

Feature of Canned Coffee in Japan

To understand Japanese Canned Coffee products smoothly, I would like to explain its features with 4 parts.

• Specifications
• Sales channels – where we can get Canned Coffee in Japan
• Situation – When / Which people have Canned Coffee in Japan
• History

Specifications

The volume of Canned coffee is mainly 190ml. The range is between 190ml to 350ml.

The material of can is mainly steel or aluminum. Recently, to save transport cost, share of aluminum is increasing.

Temperature for cold drinking is around 5 degrees Celsius, hot is around 55 degrees Celsius.

Where can we get Canned Coffee in Japan ?

The producers of Canned Coffee have very strong sales channels in Japan. It’s mainly tow channels, at stores, like supermarket, kiosks, convenience stores, and vending machines.

As there are more than 55,000 of convenience stores and 2,000,000 vending machines in Japan, we can get Canned Coffee almost all over Japan in 24/7, 365 days.

When / Which people have Canned Coffee in Japan ?

According to investigation by research company in Japan, people have Canned Coffee in various situation. Mainly it’s for refreshing and make concentration.

This company also investigate characteristics of consumers. According to the investigation, the gender ration is men 6 : women 4. Main customer base of Canned Coffee is a man in his 30s to 50s.

History of Canned Coffee in Japan

It is said that the first Canned Coffee was on sale in 1959. And in 1960’s, several producers participated in the market. However, the market was quite small at that time.

With improvement of preservation technology and spreading of vending machines, sales of Canned coffee was sharply increased in 1970’s to 1990’s.

In 21st century, Canned Coffee still keep higher sales in beverage industry. According to government statistics, consumption per person is 1.15 cans per week in Japan. (sauce : MAFF)

Flavor of Canned Coffee in Japan

In this part, I would like to explain about flavor of Canned coffee in Japan.

• Types of Canned Coffee in Japan
• Difference between dripped coffee

Types of Canned Coffee in Japan

There are mainly 3 types of Canned Coffee in Japan.

• Added Sugar and Milk
• Added Low Sugar and Milk
• Without Sugar and Milk

* I don’t see many milk coffee without sugar.

The feature of Sugar and Milk type is sweetness. Once having a sip of coffee, sweetness is spreading into whole mouth, with very mild feelings.

The feature of Low Sugar and Milk type is combination of bitterness and sweetness. Compare with normal sugar type, we can feel sharpness when we have a sip of coffee.

The type without Sugar and Milk has strong bitterness and sharpness. We can feel these flavors when we have a sip of this type. This type is called ‘Black type’ in Japanese market.

Type of Coffee	Sweetness	Bitterness	Mildness	Sharpness
Sugar and Milk	++++	–	+++	–
Low Sugar and Milk	++	++	++	+++
Without Sugar and Milk	–	++++	–	+++++

Difference between dripped coffee

The largest difference between dripped coffee is its smelling. As Canned Coffee only have small pull-top, it’s quite difficult to have smell spreads in drinking.

Even improving of the products, there is still large gap between dripped coffee. So it seems that it’s different drink in same category, like English tea and Japanese tea.

The 4 Best Canned Coffee Brands in Japan

There are so many brands of Canned Coffee in Japan. I’m afraid that it’s quite difficult for you to find your favorite one.

For your good opportunity to have Japanese Canned Coffee products, I would like to introduce the best 4 Japanese Canned Coffee Brands.

Criteria for Selection

I have selected the 4 best canned coffee brands with following criteria.

• Easy to Get
  • Available at Supermarkets
  • Many vending machines in the city
• Popularity
  • Well known among Japanese people
  • Large Sales in Japanese market

‘BOSS’ series by Suntory

’BOSS’ is one of very famous brand of ‘Canned Coffee’ in Japan, produced by Suntory. This brand was established in 1992. Since then, ‘BOSS’ brand is supported by Japanese consumers long time.

The line-up of ‘BOSS’ brand is updated continuously. Photos in upper is long sellers, ‘Premium BOSS’, ‘Rainbow Mountain’. In this brand, I prefer to ‘Premium BOSS’, which is nice to have during daily works.

‘GEORGIA’ series by Coca Cola Japan

’Georgia’ is also ver famous brand of ‘Canned Coffee’ in Japan, which is provided by Coca Cola Japan. This brand was established in 1975, having long history among major brands.

Among the ‘Georgia’ brand products, ‘Emerald Mountain’ is very famous as long seller in Japan, since 1994. People call it as ‘Eme-Mon’ with friendliness. I also like this product very much.

‘FIRE’ series by KIRIN

’FIRE’ is popular brand of ‘Canned Coffee’ in Japan, which is produced by KIRIN. This brand was established in 1998. Even it’s latecomer, this brand is now in 3rd place, following to ‘Georgia’ and ‘BOSS’.

The main product of ‘FIRE’ brand is ‘Hiki-Tate Bito’, (freshly-ground & low sugar), upper left of photo. This product is supported by Japanese consumers since 2006. I also have this product repeatedly.

‘WONDA’ series by Asahi

’WONDA’ is also one of popular brand of ‘Canned Coffee’ in Japan. This brand was established in 1997, by Asahi Soft Drinks. Compare with top 3, sales is smaller. However, it’s supported by consumers strongly.

The specific point of ‘WONDA’ is its sales copy, ‘Only for Morning’. The main product of ‘Wonda’ is ‘ WONDA Morning Shot’. I often have this product, even in evening and night.

Summary

This is the end of article. In the end, let me summarize this article.

Now you got enough knowledge about Canned Coffee in Japan. I hope you can enjoy to have this representative products of Japan !