Friday, September 19, 2014

Lipovitan D リポビタンD


Lipovitan D is a Japanese energy drink manufactured and sold by Taisho Pharmaceutical Company in Japan. It is the most popular 100ml energy drink in Japan and is also sold in around 20 countries overseas, although their names, tastes, and ingredients may differ. Drinks sold in tropical regions are usually sweeter, while drinks sold in North America and Europe tend to be less sweet.
The drink comes in a brown 100ml glass bottle and has a bright yellow color.
Although not known much to the public, Lipovitan Ds sold in vending machines are included in larger glass bottles than the ones sold in stores. This is to prevent the bottle from breaking when they fall inside the vending machines. There is no difference in content or content weight whatoever.
On the bottle, it is printed that a person should only drink Lipovitan D once a day, and when he/she is 15 years or older.

History
Lipovitan D was first introduced in 1962 as a pioneer product, replacing the ampules that were used at the time with "drinks". It introduced a new market, the "energy drink(ドリンク剤)" in Japan, and paved the way for future energy drinks in Japan. The name "Lipovitan" comes from the medical term, "Lipoclasis", a synonym of lipolysis, and the word, "vitamin". The "D" in "Lipovitan D" is an initial that comes from the words, "Delicious" and "Dynamic".
With the success of Lipovitan D, Taisho Pharmaceutical has introduced other "Lipovitan" products including the Lipovitan D Super, first sold in 1965, and Lipovitan Gold, first sold in 1979.

Ingredients
Lipovitan D contains 1000mg of taurine, 50mg of inositol, 20mg of nicotinamide, 5mg of vitamin B1, 5mg of vitamin B2, 5mg of vitamin B6, and 50 mg of caffeine.

Taste
It has a distinctive taste, which I cannot describe, and is sufficiently sweet. This is not really a drink you should taste; it is kind of like a medicine that should be gulped down.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Pepsi Refresh Shot

Pepsi Refresh Shot is a 200ml Pepsi drink with double the amount of caffeine as a normal Pepsi.
However, the amount of caffeine inside is just 38mg/200ml, which is not so much. To me, the taste was just like normal Pepsi; however, Pepsi claims that it is sweeter than the original one.
I am particularly sensitive to caffeine, so when I drank this Pepsi in the morning, it made me quite alert for the rest of the day.
I guess you can call this an energy drink.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Tiovita Drink Aivitas(チオビタ ドリンク アイビタス)

Tiovita Drink Aivitas is an energy drink sold by Taiho Pharmaceutical Company in Japan, and is a product in the famous "Tiovita" lineup.

Taste
The drink is decently sweet and has a blueberry-like taste. The unpleasant aftertaste resulting from the vitamins is not so strong, despite the drink containing a relatively large amount of Vitamin B.

Effect
I drank this energy drink after waking up from a short sleep. The effect was quite astounding; I was able to work very hard during the day without getting sleepy at all.

Ingredients
The drink contains 1000mg of taurine, 50mg of inositol, 20mg of nicotinamide, 10mg of vitamin B1, 15mg of vitamin B2, 50mg of vitamin B6, 120mg of carnitine chloride, and 50mg of caffeine.

As with most energy drinks this size, the drink is a quasi-drug and consumption is limited to 1 drink per day for people aged 15 or older.