Real Gold: Classic Energy Drink from Coca-Cola Japan
I love the functional beverage Red Bull but sometimes crave the familiar taste of my long-time favorite Japanese energy drinks, Oronamin C (オロナミン C) and Real Gold (リアルゴールド).
This time, I bought the latter, Coca-Cola Japan Real Gold, from a vending machine for 130 yen, so here, let me talk about it.
Real Gold Drink from Coca-Cola Japan
Real Gold is a carbonated energy drink that Coca-Cola Japan released in 1981. The beverage came in a glass bottle at the time, but now the mainstream is the 190 ml can.
According to the article リアルゴールド on Japanese Wikipedia, this product got the name Real Gold because it was appropriate for a high-grade energy drink.
Taste
As you can see in the photo, the carbonated energy drink, Real Gold, looks just like the Otsuka Oronamin C, and the two are close in taste.
Both are fruity and easy to drink with the right degree of fizz, even though this one doesn’t contain honey or Hachimitsu.
Features/Ingredients
Unlike Oronamin C, the Real Gold drink is caffeine-free. And its selling point mainly comes from the inclusion of royal jelly and ginseng saponin, in addition to Vitamins B2, B6, and C.
| High fructose corn syrup, Royal jelly extract, Ginseng saponin, Carbonic acid, Flavoring, Vitamin C, Citric acid, Aspartic acid Na, Niacin, Glutamic acid Na, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6, Vitamin P, Phenylalanine, Isoleucine, Threonine |
Calories/Nutrition Facts
The table below shows how the Real Gold energy drink differs in nutrients from Otsuka Oronamin C.
| Real Gold (100 ml) | Oronamin C (120 ml) | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 56 kcal | 79 kcal |
| Protein | 0 g | 0 g |
| Fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 14 g | 19 g |
| Salt equivalents | 0.01 g | 0 g |
| Aspartic acid | 11 mg | – |
| Vitamin B2 | 0.8 mg | 2.4 mg |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.8 mg | 4.9 mg |
| Vitamin C | 63-150 mg | 220 mg |
| Niacin | 9 mg | 12 mg |
| Vitamin P | 0.8 mg | – |
| Caffeine | – | 18 mg |
I recently bought a sugar free version that seem to have an ingredient that was new to me Sweetbiotix