20 Comments
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Toukyo's avatar

That was such a hilarious post — it really made me laugh! And I totally agree with you. As for sweet canned coffee, I’m like, “How can anyone drink that stuff?!” But my mother-in-law used to say, “You have to serve sweet canned coffee to craftsmen and construction workers — giving them sugar-free would be rude.” I guess the older generation seemed to believe that the sweeter it was, the more luxurious it felt, and the more it could help relieve fatigue.

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Tim Bunting - Kiwi Yamabushi's avatar

Hehe thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Those craftsmen and construction workers though, we gave them a hell of a lot of tea and pocari sweat, that’s for sure!

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Francis Turner's avatar

The dreaded "out of coffee" error is indeed a problem, even for those of us who are less snobbish and thus quite willing to drink the Lawson or Famima brew.

How do some of the more interesting one cup drip filter coffee bag things work for you? They are our emergency coffee for those mornings when we discover there was a failure to communicate and the good stuff failed to be ordered in time

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Tim Bunting - Kiwi Yamabushi's avatar

If conbini coffee works for you, go for it! It saves you a lot of money, that’s for sure!

For the drip bags, it’s a similar story for me. They’re not as bad as instant, but generally since the beans are pre-ground, by the time you come to make coffee from them, they’re stale. As a rule you don’t buy pre-ground stuff, that’s an easy trick to maintain freshness :)

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Francis Turner's avatar

We normally drink stuff we grind, the bags are the emergency supply when we’re out of beans

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Tim Bunting - Kiwi Yamabushi's avatar

Gotcha! Then I think you’re OK!

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Conbini Boys 🐣🍗's avatar

Thanks for the shoutout! I like the bitou.

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Tim Bunting - Kiwi Yamabushi's avatar

Yeah all good man!

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Jack Krown's avatar

Okay. Your favorite may be otona no aji, adult flavor. But I got one that’s at least that good: eshiniku ryouri, or Ethnic Cuisine.

What could this mean? After years I’ve decided it means “Brown People Food.” It isn’t used just for spicy SE Asian food, but also gets slapped on S American and African entries. Thus, Brown! And spicy! And with smells! And non Japanese!

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Tim Bunting - Kiwi Yamabushi's avatar

Oh yeah, another good one!

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Curious Ordinary's avatar

Thanks for the entertaining read. I'm not a coffee drinker but I'm a huge tea snob so I can definitely relate.

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Tim Bunting - Kiwi Yamabushi's avatar

The pain is real!

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Gianni Simone's avatar

As usual, beware gairaigo's traps and potholes. Wonderful post, by the way. The people around me were looked at me in a strange way. I guess they were wondering why I was laughing.

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Tim Bunting - Kiwi Yamabushi's avatar

Haha thanks, my plan worked! Make an Italian laugh out loud in Japan so they looked odd!

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Secrets from Japan and Beyond's avatar

Haha actually laughed out loud. Hilarious post. When out of snobbish coffee, conbini coffee machine over the canned or bottled stuff any day! They have a マイルドroast too:)

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Tim Bunting - Kiwi Yamabushi's avatar

Thanks! Yeah, see, I can’t handle that stuff :p

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Christopher Harding's avatar

Must add that I initially thought this post was going to be about the idea of committing a mild form of adultery, and somehow doing so at a convenience store. My mistake, but it worked as a click incentive!

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Tim Bunting - Kiwi Yamabushi's avatar

See, that’s how they get you!!

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Christopher Harding's avatar

Just back from a long holiday in Japan and my waistline can confirm that 'mild' conbini coffee is indeed *extraordinarily* sweet.

Only plus side is that some mornings, after a hot night and not much sleep, the combination of cold, sweet and at least slightly caffeinated is pretty much exactly what's called for...!

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Tim Bunting - Kiwi Yamabushi's avatar

Oh yes your waist would confirm as such, there’s nothing mild about this one!

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