Snack Nation: Melon au Lait

Drinks that come in the 500ml paper cartons feel low rent compared to the PET bottles, but that carton means real milk may be involved.

When the French first came up with the idea of making coffee au lait, they likely never expected their native language would take on new meanings all the way over in Japan. Yet as Japanese beverages have moved from traditional coffee-milk drinks to more radical explorations of flavored dairy products, the phrase 'au lait' (オ・レ) has become a simple shorthand for 'milk-based.'

Take Meiji's Melon au Lait. It's not like there was a culture of drinking straight melon juice, and now someone decided to add a little milk in the mix. Here it just means "melon-flavored milk."

But that's fine, because despite sounding odd, Melon au Lait works very well. The honeydew melon flavor is a cool and light affair that works nicely with the creaminess of the milk. The effect is much like a palette-cleansing sorbet.

There are also traces of bubblegum in the flavor, like a milky liquid version of Hubba Bubba. And with low amounts of citric acid in the melon, you don't have to worry about the possible curdling of the milk as you do with drinks such as Fruits au Lait or Vinegar and Milk.

Melon au Lait is sporadically on shelves, but if a richly-flavored meal leaves you with an aftertaste you'd rather be without, keep an eye out for the green package. 

W. David Marx is CNNGo's Tokyo City Editor. Originally hailing from the American South, David studied East Asian Studies in New England and then worked for the magazine Tokion in the Lower East Side. After moving to Tokyo in 2003, he has completed a M.A. in Consumer Behavior, worked for an ad agency, written freelance for magazines such as GQ, Brutus, Weekly Diamond, and Nylon, founded numerous niche blogs, and recorded two albums on New York-based indie labels.

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