Genki Drinks

元気 (Genki)

Genki has a few meaning. It can mean wellness as in, "Are you genki? You don't look genki. You should lay off the fried whale meat." It can mean energy like, "That kid is so genki, he kanchos with the power of an adult!" Or it can mean health, which really just means wellness. Anyways, genki drinks are energy drinks... or so I thought. I recently bought a handful of them to try out. Chemicals and sugar aren't my fortay, so this is a one shot sampling.



Ukon no Chikara. Not an energy drink!!! This drink is actually a sort of hangover cure. The boss forced you into another late night of drinking after work? Need to be up and ready to do it again the next day? Drink this. It tastes like medicine. I drank it sober, in the middle of the day, on a relatively empty stomach. I felt ill.

On recycle day in Japan, check out what people are throwing out. Some households will have hundreds of these. Also available in easy to snort powder form.





Fiber Mini. An unnatural dose of fiber to get things... going. But wait... it has other uses:





Amino-Value. Kind of just a syrupy taste. Amino acids are supposed to help replenish fluids, so I guess drink this when you are active. Especially when your pool needs cleaning.





Kireto Lemon. Just a super C type of drink. Drink when you are feeling sick and need a vitamin boost. Tastes like concentrated lemonade. Would be good with vodka and a little Chambord I think.



Acerola C. I thought it was cranberries. But no! It's some sort of exotic fruit from the West Indies. Hooray?



Ripobitan D. The most popular of all the energy drinks. Tastes like grape cough syrup. Makes you hallucinate.

So how can you benefit from these? A typical day might go like this:

1. Wake up and have a Ukon no Chikara to cure the hangover.
2. So many germs on the train to work, have an Acerola C to boost the immune system.
3. Fiber Mini with lunch, can't store this ramen in me too long.
4. Sleepy after lunch? Ripobitan D to the rescue.
5. Work out after work and stay hydrated with an Amino Value.

Or just stick with what you know.