The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) recently released Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, the soda manufacturer’s first foray into the US alcohol market in nearly 40 years. It looks like another international favorite may be next in line, this time from Asia: Lemon-Dou.
Coke launched Lemon-Dou, a sour lemon hard seltzer, in Japan in 2018. For years, the company has insisted that the alcoholic drink would stay exclusive to Japanese markets. Yet now, perhaps based on the resounding success of Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, it appears that the beverage makers have reversed their position.
Spirit Based Lemon Beverage
Lemon-Dou is a type of chuhai drink, made with sparkling water and shochu, a Japanese distilled beverage. Shochu can be distilled from barley, buckwheat, rice, or sweet potatoes. The bottled spirit ranges from 25% to 37% ABV. Flavors are often described as nutty or earthy.
Based on recent trademark filings, we may soon see Lemon-Dou in US markets. Coke applied for trademark protection with an intent to use in interstate commerce for Lemon-Dou, a “lemon flavored beer.”
The international version of the sour lemon drink is available in four different flavor variations, each with a different ABV. With its unique flavor profiles and varying ABVs, there is a Lemon-Dou for every occasion.
Oni Lemon contains 9% ABV and 17% lemon juice. Shio Lemon comes with a balanced 7% ABV and 7% lemon juice. Taliban Lemon boasts 5% ABV and 10% juice, while Hachimitsu Lemon contains a light 3% ABV, 7% lemon juice, and is lightly sweetened with honey.
Successful Tests in Japan
“Bar quality has been key for alcoholic beverage innovations. Coca-Cola’s premium chu-hi cocktail Lemon-dou has seen great success since its launch, becoming one of the key chu-hi brands, off the back of its bar quality claim,” said Verdict Food Service.
“Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan stated in its investors’ presentation that it is planning to switch its underperforming non-alcoholic production facility to Lemon-dou production.”
In 2019, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Japan confirmed that the product was meant to be unique to Japan.
“This is still [an] experimental product specific for the unique Japanese market. We don’t have plans to sell this outside of Japan,” the company stated.
No less than Coca-Cola Japan president Jorge Garduno agreed, stating “I don’t think many 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 born here will stay here.”
Coke & Alcohol
Lemon-Dou wasn’t Coca-Cola’s first foray into the world of hard drinks, but the company had been all soft for several decades before its introduction. In the late 1970s it acquired Wine Spectrum, its wine brand that did fairly well for the company.
For a short time, Wine Spectrum was so popular that it was available in cans on United Airlines flights. Finding the margins to be unfavorable compared to soft drinks, Coca-Cola sold off its wine division in 1982.
Yet the beverage company has quickly collected accolades for its Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, based on the iconic Mexican mineral water brand it acquired in 2017.
Given Topo Chico’s early successes, we are excited to see what Coke has in mind for Lemon-Dou USA.
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