Bullet train blends you won’t get anywhere else.
For a lot of Japanese travellers, a ride on the Shinkansen bullet train is synonymous with ice cream, specifically Sujata ice cream. Our reporter Mr Sato is one such traveller, who says he just doesn’t feel like he’s on the Shinkansen unless he eats it, which is a bit of a problem as in-car sales stopped in 2021, making it more difficult to get.
So when he found himself up early for a trip to Nagoya on the Shinkansen recently, he was thrilled to see a vending machine on the platform that was selling his beloved ice cream…in more than one flavour.
▼ Vanilla, Strawberry, Belgian Chocolate and Shine Muscat Grape.
These were little tubs of joy for Mr Sato, and after a moment’s deliberation, he decided to order the chocolate variety for 420 yen (US$2.94).
▼ The ice cream is so famous it’s simply known as “新幹線アイスクリーム” (“Shinkansen Ice Cream”)
▼ Within an instant, his ice cream popped out into the chute, and he noticed there was something else in there too…
▼ … a bunch of spoons.
Grabbing a wooden spoon, he was just about to turn on his heel and head to the queue for his carriage when he spotted another vending machine beside it. This one contained…
▼ … Shinkansen Coffee!
This was something he’d never seen before so he wasn’t going to miss the chance to try it, especially when he stepped close to the machine and saw it had a choice of blends, each one named after one of the three Shinkansen that stop at this platform.
▼ The Shinkansen Kodama Blend is said to have a soft acidity, while the Hikari has a gentle bitterness and the Nozomi, the fastest train of the three, features a rich bitterness.
▼ Plus, there was an extra surprise — the Doctor Yellow Blend, named after the elusive, bright yellow inspection bullet train.
Due to its rarity, spotting a Doctor Yellow is said to be a sign of good luck so that’s the coffee Mr Sato went for, hoping it might give him some fortune. Available in a “Big Size” for 500 yen, the beans for this blend are medium roasted, like the others, but with a strong acidity as their main feature.
After pressing the button for his coffee, the brewing process was displayed on the screen at the top of the machine, giving it a nice, live feel.
As he waited, he felt a sense of warmth and care from the sign that alerted customers to the possible 95-second wait time, preventing them from missing their train.
Sure enough, after about 95 seconds, his Doctor Yellow Blend was served. The cup even had a yellow design around it to signify the special train, which was a very cute touch.
With his ice cream and coffee, Mr Sato was a very happy passenger as he slid into his seat on the train.
Lifting the lid on his coffee, it had a fantastic aroma, and when he took a sip he found it had a pronounced acidity, just as the flavour chart had indicated. Personally, he would’ve preferred a stronger bitterness, but for a vending machine coffee, it was incredibly good.
Now it was time to dig into the ice cream… literally. You see, this ice cream is renowned for being incredibly hard — spoons have been known to get stuck in the tub, failing to retrieve ice cream as they should — earning it the nickname “Shinkansen Sugoi Katai Ice” (Super Hard Shinkansen Ice Cream).
The struggle to eat the hard ice cream has long been part of its appeal, but this time, Mr Sato found it was rather easy to dig into. According to the manufacturer, the Sujata vending machines can only reach a low of -25 degrees Celsius (-13 degrees Fahrenheit), so the ice creams aren’t as rock-hard as they once were.
Although the ice cream may no longer be firm enough to make it from Tokyo to Nagoya without melting, it still tasted fantastic, especially when paired with the bitter coffee, and he was glad he bought both of them. The machines can be found at platforms 14 and 15, 16 and 17, and 18 and 19 at Tokyo Station, and Mr Sato highly recommends trying them if you can. He says they’re wonderful travel companions.
Photos ©SoraNews24
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