{"id":6707,"date":"2026-06-04T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=6707"},"modified":"2026-06-04T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T03:00:00","slug":"japanese-convenience-store-challenge-is-only-for-those-with-extreme-tastes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=6707","title":{"rendered":"Japanese convenience store challenge is only for those with extreme tastes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Super Happy! Challenge gives us two unforgettable products that deserve a place in convenience store history.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re hungry and in the mood to try convenience store food, Lawson<\/strong> is the place to go right now as the chain is currently upsizing some of its most popular products<\/strong> for free.<\/p>\n

\u25bc Popular items in the \u201cSuper Happy! Challenge<\/strong>\u201d lineup include oversized versions of onigiri<\/strong>, sandwiches<\/strong>, and the Premium Roll Cake<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In amongst the offerings are two surprises we weren\u2019t expecting<\/strong>, and rather than being happy to see them, we had a hunch they might be too extreme for anyone\u2019s liking<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u25bc The \u201cToo Sour\u201d Salted Lemonade (228 yen [US$1.43]) <\/strong>and the \u201cToo Sweet\u201d Drinkable Chilled Zenzai<\/strong> (298 yen).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

According to Lawson\u2019s official website, the Too Sour version of the chain\u2019s Salted Lemonade<\/strong>\u00a0contains twice as much lemon juice as the previous version<\/strong>, while the Too Sweet version of the Drinkable Chilled Zenzai<\/strong>\u00a0is made with twice as much red bean paste as the original product<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u25bc Zenzai is is a traditional Japanese sweet made from sweetened red beans <\/strong>and usually served with mochi<\/strong> (rice cakes).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Reading the descriptions alone, it\u2019s hard to tell just how extreme these drinks really are, so our reporter P.K. Sanjun bought both the regular and upsized versions of each for a taste test back in the office.<\/p>\n

\u25bc Starting with the regular Salted Lemonade<\/strong>, it wasn\u2019t especially sour \u2013 in fact, it tasted more like a lightly salted lemonade than anything intensely citrusy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Then he took a sip of the Too Sour Salted Lemonade<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

\u25bc Waaaaa! <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

P.K. could hardly get his words out, but when he finally unpuckered his lips he managed to say, \u201cWow. This stuff is unbelievable.<\/strong>\u201c<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t just that it was more sour \u2013 the entire flavor profile felt completely different<\/strong>. To try and describe it, P.K. says it\u2019s like tasting the difference between water and tea and then tasting the difference between water and cola, which is where the Too Sour Lemonade sits. The taste, texture and intensity is on a whole other scale compared to the regular version.<\/p>\n

\u25bc<\/strong> It was so intense he couldn\u2019t even finish the drink, so he moved on to the regular Drinkable Chilled Zenzai<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It had a pleasantly balanced sweetness that was fairly refined and P.K. had absolutely no complaints about the flavour. Then he took a sip of the Too Sweet Drinkable Chilled Zenzai<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

\u25bc Tooooooo sweeeeeet!!!!!!!! <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The sweetness was absolutely relentless. It was the kind of sweetness that burns its way down your throat in an aggressive manner and it was so strong that P.K. dare not take another sip.<\/p>\n

After trying the drinks, P.K. was surprised to find that in both cases, he actually preferred the original versions<\/strong>. They felt more balanced and, frankly, more enjoyable to drink.<\/p>\n

\u25bc<\/strong> P.K. gives both of these two thumbs down.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although the drinks themselves were too extreme for P.K.\u2019s palate, he was impressed by Lawson\u2019s marketing. In choosing to go overboard with the sourness and sweetness levels, this campaign serves to highlight just how good the original versions are. It also proves that you really can have too much of a good thing, and so sometimes, just sometimes, upsizing your favourite products or flavours may not be all it\u2019s cracked up to be.<\/p>\n

Everyone\u2019s palate is different, though, so if you\u2019d like to test yours against the extreme ends of the spectrum, the drinks will be on shelves for a limited four-week period from 2 June.<\/p>\n

Photos \u00a9SoraNews24<\/em>
\n\u25cf Want to hear about SoraNews24\u2019s latest articles as soon as they\u2019re published? Follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Super Happy! Challenge gives us two unforgettable products that deserve a place in convenience store history. If you\u2019re hungry and in the mood to try convenience store food, Lawson is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6707\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}