−196 °C Strong Zero (commonly referred to as Strong Zero or −196) is a brand of chūhai produced by Beam Suntory.[1] It is currently sold in Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Australia.[1] As with other types of chūhai, it is available in a variety of different flavors, and is often sold at convenience stores and through vending machines.[2] The "strong" portion of the name comes from the fact that the drinks have relatively high alcohol content (9% ABV in Japan).[3] The "zero" refers to what the manufacturer calls "sugar-free".[4] According to nutrition labelling standards in Japan, a beverage product can be labelled as sugar-free as long as it does not exceed 0.5 g of sugar per 100 mL.[5]
Strong Zero is made by freezing fruit in liquid nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of −195.8 °C (−320 °F; 77 K), and hence the "−196 °C" in the name. The frozen whole fruit is then pulverized and soaked in beverage alcohol. The final beverage contains the fruit juice, shochu, vodka and soda.[6][4][1] The process produces a relatively low calorie and low sugar drink. As with many food and drink products available in Japan, new flavors are often released to coincide with the seasonality of different ingredients.[7][8]
The brand was launched in Australia in June 2021 under the name "−196", initially with a "Double Lemon" flavour packaged in 330 mL cans.[1] The Double Lemon product has 6% ABV, 0.3 g sugar, and 122 calories per serving.[9] The launch of −196 Double Lemon in Australia in 2021 was the largest launch in the Australian ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic beverage market in the preceding five years, and the product initially went out of stock upon its introduction.[10][11] The initial launch was supported by two ads featuring Japanese characters of a sumo wrestler and a samurai warrior that play with a lemon to create the lemon juice for the premix. The ad campaign was awarded with three Australian Effie Awards in 2022.[12]
Following the success of the Double Lemon flavour, Beam Suntory launched a "Double Grape" flavour in Australia in October 2022.[13] The Double Grape flavour comes in the same size cans and has the same ABV, and has 122 calories and has 0.0 g of sugar per serve.[9]
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