Ichibanzakura
Orion Beer Co., Ltd.

Crystal clear yellow with a steady stream of bubbles, short but sticky head. A somewhat pleasant, floral hoppy nose with a malt presence. This seems promising, until the taste test. A potpourri of metallic tap water, chewing gum and corona.

As this beer warms, the smells and flavors open up. And I knock off a few points because ... damn. It's almost happoshu funky. Orion has definitely mastered the art of producing mediocre crap. Not recommended at all.

After glancing over some reviews of Orion's lager, I was pleasantly surprised to find this one not so bad. After all, it's the "beer of beers" and it comes from sunny Okinawa!! So I'm happy it can live up to my expectations a little.

The can features a large bunch of pink cherry blossoms, and a statement in Japanese about this being the first of the cherry blossoms. I think it also refers to Okinawa being the farthest south of Japan's islands, this receiving the first of the spring cherry blossoms, a big deal in Japan.

It's yellow with no head. The smell is flowery...yes, flowery and sweet. The beer has high carbonation and a sweet taste that I'm not going to call flowery despite briefly considering it. It's very drinkable, but really not that interesting. It's slightly wheaty and reminds me of the budget wheat beer "muginosuke".