Reishi mushrooms add immune-boosting powers to the centuries-old recipe behind this cult cola. Sometimes, when you have a good product it sells itself and that’s certainly what’s happened to Takahide Kobayashi , who goes by the name Cola Kobayashi . Back in 2018, we discovered him selling craft cola from a truck at the U.
N. Farmers’ Market in Tokyo, and in the six years since his business has grown rapidly, with his Iyoshi Cola now becoming a sought-after cult product sold at luxury supermarkets and two top convenience store chains. ▼ Back in 2018, Kobayashi sold his cola in bags.
Our reporter Tasuku Egawa was one of the first members of the media to report on Iyoshi Cola, less than three months after Kobayashi set up his business , and he knew back then that the humble drink was destined for big things. ▼ Cola Kobayashi, selling drinks from his truck in 2018, at the age of 28. It wasn’t long before the brand was featured in magazines and radio and T.
V. shows, leading to a craft cola boom that saw other brands pop up, but nobody could quite compare to Iyoshi Cola, thanks to the expertise of its creator, who is a self-confessed “cola maniac” . After finding a recipe for cola online that was over 100 years old, he travelled the world tasting different colas, and when he returned to Japan to help clear out his grandfather’s workshop in Shinjuku — his grandfather was Ryotaro Ito, a craftsman in Chinese holistic medicine whose workshop was called Iyoshi Yakko �.
