Review: Calpico Lychee Drink

1.5L (Amazon.com, $6.60)

There is an Asian supermarket close to me called Asian Food. For someone like me who has never really been in an Asian Supermarket there is a lot to see and touch and laugh at and be disgusted by. From the silly cartoon people on noodle boxes to the wads of tripe in the cold section to the 30 some odd types of tofu, it is easy to spend an hour and a whole spectrum of emotions in the store without really accomplishing anything. How am I supposed to figure out which Korean BBQ sauce will go best with my bok choy? What are you supposed to do with black duck eggs? Why is this herbal tea not safe for children?

Amongst the exotica there are all kinds of neat things to drink that I have never seen before, including this lychee flavored drink from Calpico. While trying to find more information about it on the internet I learned that it is a Hello Kitty drink. It is unclear as to why but sometimes this product comes with a Hello Kitty logo and sometimes it does not. A quick Google will tell you that some people only like it because of the Hello Kitty appeal. The one I bought (along with its sister flavors available in the store) did not feature any sign of Hello Kitty however it did show up on my receipt as “Hello Kitty Lychee Drink”.

Sans Hello Kitty (such as in the picture above), the product immediately reminded me of a prize you might come across in the Nintendo game Bubble Bobble. It would please one of those dinosaurs to devour a bottle of white sugar milk amongst their 8-bit cakes and pies. Make no mistake, dinosaur or not, there is a certain attractiveness to the packaging. It feels kind of good to look at and hold the bottle. The white plastic is not like a regular plastic water or soda bottle. There is something a little more futuristic going on. It’s the kind of plastic children of tomorrow will be familiar with, something they will recall as a fond part of Saturdays filled with Ultra-Comics and Hyperball. It’s a reward their parents will give them for walking Rex the Electro-Doggie all week.

Within this plastic the ingredients are pretty simple. Consisting mainly of water, sugar (52 grams), and non-fat dry milk it is a dessert kind of drink with a hint of lychee at the end. Kind of like drinking a melted sorbet it’s not exactly liquid candy, but it is a close runner-up.