Okay, so the economy may be down, it may be a drag go to work each morning on the murderously crowded trains (or the impossibly jammed highways), and you may be feeling tired of everyday life in general, but you can’t let things like that kill the rock ‘n’ roll spirit inside you, can you? Well, now there’s a new line of alcoholic beverages from Suntory Holdings Limited that will help you get back into the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll – in Rolling Stones fashion!

Rolling Stones fans will be delighted to know that Suntory’s new line of alcoholic drinks is called “Stones Bar” and features the classic “Lips and Tongue” logo of the famous rock band. The major Japanese beverage company has announced that they will initially be offering three different products to start off the Stones Bar line of drinks.

The three drinks actually have a relatively low alcohol content (4-5%) and are described as having a light, refreshing taste, which may make them popular with younger consumers. Not exactly what you might expect from products associated with rock music and the Rolling Stones? Well, you do need to avoid excess and stay healthy after all, if you want to be rocking and rolling at the age of 69 like Mick Jagger is!

So here are the three drinks that will be sold starting June 19th:

■ Stones Bar sparkling liquor (Happo-shu) “Rolling Hop”
Happo-shu has been increasingly popular in Japan in recent years and is usually thought of as an inexpensive, low-malt beer substitute, but this happo-shu has a fresh citrusy flavor that makes it appealing even to people who don’t like the bitter taste of beer. This drink ROOOOOCKS!

■ Stones Bar cocktail drink “Rolling Gold”
This is no ordinary cocktail! A creation that combines gin with an energy drink, it’s bound to give you a big boost of energy! It just may be the ultimate cocktail! Of course, this drink ROOOOOCKS too!

■ Stones Bar highball drink “Citrus Highball”
This carbonated highball drink that combines whiskey with lime and lemon liqueur is totally refreshing! A highball may not exactly be what you would think of as a “rock ‘n’ roll” drink, but we think this fresh-tasting, awesome drink perfectly fits the image of the Rolling Stones’ hit song “Start Me Up”. Okay, you guessed it, this drink also completely ROOOOOCKS!

The drinks sound pretty exciting don’t they? There’s even a cute Stones Bar website, which may be fun to check out.

What’s more, we thought Suntory President Yashunori Aiba’s comment at the press conference in March to announce the Stones Bar products was quite cool too! He said that they’re not trying to dominate the market with these drinks, they would be happy if the drinks just help the young people of Japan feel more hopeful and invigorated. Way to go, President Aiba. We think you rock too!

We can’t wait for the Stones Bar drinks to come out on June 19th! Whether you’re a rock ‘n’ roller or not, these are drinks that we think you’ll definitely want to try!

Source: Suntory press release (Japanese)
Stones Bar website (Japanese)


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