Japanese beverages

Japanese beverages consist of alcoholic beverages and non-alcoholic beverages.

Japanese alcoholic beverages first appeared in the earliest historical records. In 3rd-century, it was recorded that Japanese were fond of liquor such as sake and beer and this remains little changed today. The consumption of sake was overtaken by beer around the beginning of the 20th century. In recent years, the comsumption of beer occupied by over 75%. However, per capita alcohol consumption has been in decline from a peak of 80 liters a year in 1999 to around 74 liters in 2006. Still,  Japan remains a nation of beer drinkers, with beer and beer-like beverages accounting for nearly two thirds of the 9 billion liters of alcohol consumed. Also, other alcoholic beverages such as Japanese whisky, wine and shochu are totally welcome and consumed by an incresing number of people.

When it comes to Japanese beverages, apart from well-known alcoholic drinks, Non-alcoholic drinks especially Japanese traditional tea and soda stand out. Offering a wide range of flavors and special types in Japan makes them not only popular in Japan but also in western countries. What is worth mentioning is that Japan started to embrace coffee even before the second world war and in the 1960 it started to carry out. This was also the time when the first canned coffee was produced. The main idea of the canned coffee was easy to be enjoyed everywhere which is true even today.