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A friend alerted me that Marukai/Tokyo Central & Main is once again selling Kirin Gogo no Kocha milk tea, including these larger size bottles! OMG I AM SO HAPPY you have no idea. 🙂 I don’t know if other Japanese and Asian markets are carrying it too, but it’s worth checking. Ummm don’t ask me why the bottle on the left looks different, it’s the same product.
In the early 2000’s, when I first started drinking milk tea (yes, there were days before milk tea), every Japanese grocery store carried this brand. It was the first milk tea I tried, and I fully admit it was because Aya Matsuura, my favorite idol, did commercials for it. I hate milk, and back then I didn’t like tea either (*gasp*), but I was already a fan of boba fruit slushes and had many friends who loved boba milk tea. A friend introduced me to Thai iced tea, and I liked that, so I thought why not? I’ll give milk tea a try. The weirdest thing to me was that the moment I first tasted it, I could taste the milk, and I could taste the tea… and somehow I loved it! Maybe it’s all the sugar, hah. But the flavors created a mild blend that was somehow very soothing. I was instantly hooked, started buying Kirin milk tea in mass quantities, and later even started joking that milk tea runs through my veins. That was the start of my milk tea addiction.
At some point, Asian grocery stores in California stopped carrying Kirin milk tea. I was so sad! Sure, there were other brands, and I could always make milk tea at home, but it just wasn’t the same. Later, ITO EN released their Teas’ Tea milk teas, the closest thing I’ve found to Kirin’s Gogo no Kocha, and I was so happy to have a comparable substitute!
But more recently, ITO EN has a different milk tea, and it’s ok but I don’t like it quite as much (the Jasmine milk tea is interesting, though, if you can find it). Anyway, now Kirin milk tea is back, and I can once again be a crazy milk tea hoarding lady!
Of course, I’d been drinking plenty of milk tea of all kinds, and they all taste just a little different. However, I was not prepared for the big nostalgia hit when I opened up that new bottle of Kirin milk tea and took the first sip. It inspired me to bring out the little Hello Kitty cups I used to drink milk tea out of back in the day (because they’re small, to limit my sugar intake… but also because they’re cute, for MAX HAPPY). I feel like I’m 20 years old again!
When I’m in the mood for hot milk tea, I enjoy DeDe’s Instant Boba Milk Tea. I laughed at the “Just add Boba” part (so it’s really just milk tea), but I like the flavor. Sadly I haven’t been able to find it lately, but I also like their Instant Thai Tea, which is a lot easier to find. Of course, there’s also the Nitto brand instant Royal Milk Tea, which every Japanese grocery store carries. It’s good, but the packets are very small, so I usually use two at a time.
I’ve also tried a couple different boba milk tea kits (including a Hello Kitty one, haha), and my favorite one so far is the J Way one. I’m simple and like the plain milk tea best, but my husband likes the taro and my dad likes the fruity one (you can get the flavors separately, too). I’ve had boba in a can, and those are all terrible, but this instant boba kit works very well. There’s a bag of boba that you microwave, and then a powder that you mix with hot water for the drink. You put the two together, and then add either more hot water or ice to cool it down. Easy!
As for flavored milk teas, I looove honeydew or peach milk tea. Tea5 makes a good canned Assam Melon Milk Tea, which is fairly easy to find in Asian markets (they also make plain, strawberry, and chocolate milk teas). More recently I’ve been on a huge jasmine milk tea kick. I used to think milk and sugar in any kind of green tea was weird, but boba places have proven me wrong. Bonus for not having as much caffeine as black milk tea! Since the lockdown, I’ve been making my own jasmine milk tea at home with condensed milk and sugar or Splenda. The real trick seems to be brewing a jasmine tea that’s strong enough for the flavor to really come through.
Of course, when I find milk tea flavored things, I can’t help but be interested. I found these Tapioca Milk Tea candies at Marukai! It’s a hard candy with a chewy middle, and the flavor is actually pretty good. I wasn’t expecting much and was delightfully surprised.
I also found Boba Milk Tea Mochi, originally at Costco of all places, and found them highly addicting! I’ve tried a couple different ones now, and the YUKI/LOVE ones are my favorite. They make a great light little snack!
Ok, I restocked. Do you think this is enough? Oh, there’s one more in the fridge. I think I’m good.
This is literally everything feel about the Kirin Afternoon Milk Tea. Back like 6 years ago my sister and I would buy cases of the 1 liter, 20 at a time, and just stock up because it was so good, we even said the same thing that it ran in our veins. we could easily finish a whole 1 liter in a sitting. After it disappeared we never saw it again and nothing came close. We theorized that maybe the secret ingredient was cocaine so that was why it was banned. I still look around for it, I see ridiculous pricing like $50 a bottle on amazon, and people are paying it. It’s still available in Japan and Taiwan everywhere so when I go there a couple of times a year I would literally bring back 10 bottles. I was writing the company asking why it was gone, what was the reason but got nothing. I felt this mystery needed a professional investigative reporting done, I needed food insider or vice to go find out the mystery and clear it once and for all. I’m glad someone else out there feels the same and that I’m not alone.