Image copyright www.cocacola.co.jp 
 
 Coca-Cola has launched its first alcoholic drink, a lemon flavoured alcopop, in Japan in a bid to tap new markets and consumers. 
 
 In a global first for the US drinks giant, three fizzy lemon drinks went on sale on Monday. 
 
 The product aims at a growing market of young drinkers - especially women. 
 
 Described by Coca-Cola as "unique" in the company's 125-year history, the three drinks range from 3% to 8% alcohol. 
 
 In keeping with the company's tradition, the recipe is closely guarded but the drinks are modelled on the country's popular Chu-Hi drinks, usually a mix of local spirit and a range of fruit flavours. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption The drinks hit the shelves on Monday 
 
 Chu-Hi - an abbreviation for shochu highball - has been marketed as an alternative to beer, proving especially popular with female drinkers. 
 
 Local companies like Suntory, Asahi and Kirin currently dominate the sector for canned Chu-Hi drinks. 
 
 The most popular flavours are strong citrus ones such as grapefruit or lemon, the latter one being the taste Coca Cola now wants a share of. 
 
 Image copyright www.suntory.co.jp Image caption Chu-Hi drinks are often aimed at young women 
 
 Coca-Cola says there are no plans to bring the new drinks range to markets outside Japan. 
 
 Alcopop drinks boomed in Europe and the UK in the 1990s with the likes of Smirnoff Ice and Bacardi Breezer becoming hugely popular. 
 
 They were controversial, with concerns they encouraged young people to drink more alcohol because of soft drink-like taste. ||||| Coca-Cola will soon be giving Japanese consumers a new kind of buzz. 
 
 In a departure from its traditional soda business, Coke (KO) plans to launch an alcoholic drink in Japan this year. It's trying to get in on the growing market for "chu-hi" -- canned, flavored drinks typically made with sparkling water and shochu, a Japanese spirit distilled from grains. 
 
 The new drink is a "highly Japan-specific approach given the complexity and richness" of Coke's range of products in the country, Coke spokesperson Yohko Okabe told CNN on Wednesday. 
 
 The company declined to give further details on the plans, but in a recent blog post, the president of Coca-Cola Japan said the drink would be "unique" in Coke's history. 
 
 "We haven't experimented in the low alcohol category before," Jorge Garduño said in the post. 
 
 The storied soft drinks company is set to enter a crowded market. Big Japanese beverage makers like Kirin (KNBWY) and Suntory (STBFY) already produce popular "chu-hi" drinks. 
 
 Related: Coca-Cola's new CEO: 'We've got to experiment' 
 
 Brewing up an alcoholic beverage is just Coke's latest Japanese experiment. 
 
 The country is one of the company's most competitive and fast changing markets. It says it launches about 100 new products there every year. 
 
 Other big global brands have tried unusual things to cater to Japanese consumers' palates. Nestlé opened a factory last year in Japan to meet the growing demand for weirdly flavored KitKat bars. 
 
 Coke has dabbled in alcohol in the past, buying wine businesses in the US in the 1970s. That foray was widely seen as a failure, and it quit the wine industry a few years later. 
 
 Related: The world's most valuable liquor company is now Chinese 
 
 But CEO James Quincey has said the company needs to experiment beyond its classic soda brands. 
 
 Some drinks it created specifically for Japanese consumers have found success in other markets. 
 
 Few Americans have heard of Aquarius (a sports drink), Georgia Coffee (a canned coffee drink) or Sokenbicha (a blended tea drink), yet Coke says that each of those concoctions created for the Japanese market has generated global sales of $1 billion or more in the past five years. 
 
 Coke fans outside of Japan hoping for a stiffer drink from the company shouldn't get their hopes up, though. 
 
 "I don't think people around the world should expect to see this kind of thing from Coca-Cola," Garduño said of the planned "chu-hi" drink. 
 
 But in an interview with CNN last month, Quincey left open the possibility of introducing alcohol in the US one day. 
 
 "Never say never," he said. ||||| For decades, Coca-Cola ’s business in Japan has stood out as an almost truly unique market. An outsider who visits for the first time sees a place with a seemingly wild array of options across the beverage landscape. 
 
 But as Coca-Cola continues to evolve as a total beverage company, something interesting is happening: The rest of the world is starting to look a little more like Japan. The U.S. market now has a dizzying array of beverages and is growing all the time. Products like kombucha and drinking vinegars are gradually going mainstream. 
 
 Of course, Japan still has some characteristics all its own. It has a heavy focus on the convenience channel, and vending is bigger there than anywhere else in the world. Some beverage categories that are big in Japan barely exist anywhere else. 
 
 To learn more about Japan, we talked to Jorge Garduño, president of Coca-Cola ’s Japan business unit. Garduño has been with the company since 1992, working in many areas of the world. He’s been in charge of the Japanese business since July 2017, working in close partnership with the local bottling system. 
 
 There are so many new products and programs launching in Japan in any given year. What factors in the market drive the need for constant innovation? 
 
 The Japanese market is incredibly dynamic, fiercely competitive and rooted in innovation. Because of this, our team is constantly looking at ways to experiment – both from a product standpoint and finding new ways to do business with our customers. Consumers here look for variety and want to experiment. We also have categories that are much bigger here than in most of the world – like tea, for example. Ready-to-drink coffee is also an enormous business, and we have the leading brand in Georgia coffees. In the fourth quarter of 2017 alone, we ran dozens of new, key initiatives and programs, from launching new bottle designs to testing new products and flavors. This is how it is all the time. 
 
 How do you see this approach supporting the company’s overall strategy? 
 
 For one thing, it sets a great example for others. We’re always looking for new ways to reach and please consumers, and a big part of that is introducing them to new products that we think they will love. We’re seeing more of this in other parts of the world, too, and it’s encouraging to see our portfolio expanding with new products and successful brands. Some of the learnings here also influence what happens across the Coca-Cola system. For example, Japan is home to a research hub that specializes in tea and coffee, and products developed here are introduced around the world. We also have a concept here called FOSHU, which means Food for Specified Health Uses. This is a government-approved certification for products with health benefits. We’ve been having a lot of success with these products, like Coca-Cola with fiber, which we call Coca-Cola Plus. Japan has an aging population, and these products appeal to those consumers. Coca-Cola Plus might remain only in Japan, but functional beverages are certainly growing in popularity in much of the world. 
 
 James Quincey has talked often about the idea of experimenting more and being willing to fail quickly, learn and move on. Do you have any examples of that in Japan? 
 
 The Japan business unit launches an average of 100 new products a year, and many times more are put to the test behind the scenes. Experimentation is almost like a day-to-day ritual here. You can’t fall behind the rapid product cycle in Japan, so we’re always seeking innovation opportunities to deliver fun surprises for consumers. 
 
 We’re well into 2018 now. What new products do you anticipate coming to the market? 
 
 We’re trying to push the boundaries to serve consumers in new ways. Ayataka is a tea brand that has done really well. We’re introducing a flavor this year that creates a new option for consumers who prefer light taste yet still want to enjoy the richness of green tea. In the sparkling category, we’re introducing THE TANSAN, which features the strongest carbonation ever in our products in this country, to reach health conscious adult sparkling lovers. We’re also going to experiment with a product in a category known in Japan as Chu-Hi. This is a canned drink that includes alcohol; traditionally, it is made with a distilled beverage called shōchū and sparkling water, plus some flavoring. We haven’t experimented in the low alcohol category before, but it’s an example of how we continue to explore opportunities outside our core areas. 
 
 Has Coke used the same approach before?
– For 132 years, Coca-Cola has stuck to non-alcoholic beverages. No more. On Monday, the company introduced three fizzy lemon drinks in 3%, 5%, and 7% alcohol on the Japanese island of Kyushu, home to 13 million people. Coca-Cola's Lemon-Do falls into Japan's popular "chuhai" category, drinks that typically combine grain-based alcohol with flavored carbonated water, reports the Wall Street Journal. The canned beverage—in lemon, salty lemon, and honey and lemon flavors—will be slightly cheaper than the average chuhai, however, with a $1.50 price tag including tax. "We've started to experiment because, in the end, we are trying to follow the consumer. And, in the case of Japan, this is a relatively well-developed segment of low alcohol," Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey says, per the Journal. The brand hopes to appeal to female drinkers especially. Early testers seem impressed, comparing the drink to those made in bars. "I'm a bit surprised that this is a Coca-Cola brand," says a 59-year-old tester. "It's nice, but I would add a splash of grapefruit or more lemon to it." There are no plans to make Lemon-Do available outside of Japan, reports the BBC.