Kirin Brewery to Launch Limited-Time Kirin Tokusei Melon Soda Sour Nationwide on June 16

Kirin Brewery Company, Limited, led by President Hideki Horiguchi, will launch Kirin Tokusei Melon Soda Sour, a limited-time product in 350ml and 500ml cans, nationwide in Japan on Tuesday, June 16. The product belongs to the Kirin Tokusei brand, which is built around the concept of a premium special sour carefully crafted by Kirin with a one-of-a-kind taste. In recent years, the RTD market has shown medium- to long-term growth and has attracted increasing attention. Kirin Brewery has also identified consumer demand for a sense of quality and authenticity in RTD products. Kirin Tokusei has delivered a carefully crafted, premium taste through its focus on ingredients and production methods. The brand has been well received for combining its distinctive sense of quality with a satisfying drinking experience. RTD stands for Ready to Drink, referring to alcoholic beverages that can be consumed as they are after opening. Kirin Tokusei Melon Soda Sour was first released in 2025. Its moderately sweet melon soda flavor and the satisfying taste characteristic of Kirin Tokusei earned consumer support, making it the best-selling limited-edition Kirin Tokusei product released that year. Based on this positive response, Kirin has decided to bring the product back in 2026. The Kirin Tokusei brand aims to satisfy customers’ day with premium special sours carefully crafted by Kirin. By releasing a limited-edition product that captures the feeling of early summer, Kirin seeks to offer consumers the special appeal of a drink available only now. The company also aims to deliver its premium taste not only to existing customers, but also to people who have never tried Kirin Tokusei, thereby expanding drinking occasions. The product is a special sour with a premium, multilayered melon soda flavor and pleasant carbonation, designed to remain enjoyable without becoming tiring. It contains no fruit juice. Kirin uses its proprietary fermented flavor ingredient derived from coffee cherries to create a more satisfying taste. Coffee cherries are the red fruits that grow on coffee trees, and their seeds are used as the raw material for coffee. The package design conveys the premium feel of a carefully crafted product while adding a seasonal and special quality that captures the mood of early summer and builds anticipation for the melon soda flavor. The fermented flavor ingredient derived from coffee cherries was developed by the Beverage Future Research Institute of Kirin Holdings Company, Limited. It is made by pressing coffee cherries, concentrating the juice into an extract, and fermenting it with lactic acid bacteria and yeast. In preference research using RTD products, improvements were confirmed in overall preference, satisfaction, refreshing sensation, and premium feel, suggesting the ingredient may enhance drinking satisfaction. By using coffee cherries, which previously had no option but to be discarded, as a valuable ingredient, Kirin aims to contribute to sustainability through higher income for coffee farms and to reduce environmental impact by cutting waste. Product details are as follows: the product name is Kirin Tokusei Melon Soda Sour, available for a limited time; the launch date is Tuesday, June 16, 2026; the sales area is nationwide in Japan; the formats are 350ml and 500ml cans; the price is open; the alcohol content is 6%; the pure alcohol content is 16.8g for the 350ml can and 24g for the 500ml can; and the planned production sites are Kirin Brewery’s Sendai, Toride, Nagoya, and Okayama plants, as well as Kirin Distillery’s Fuji Gotemba Distillery.