Japanese Milk

[ebear215]

I'm a milk fanatic and whenever I eat a meal (especially if it's food I don't particulary like) I always have a nice cold glass ready to drink.
I went to Japan about 3 years ago and one of the big things I noticed is that their milk tastes horrible! I was still a kid back then (Heck I'm still a kid now, but thats not my point) and all my life I've pretty much grew up drinking nothing but 2% milk so I figured that the milk I drank in Japan was whole milk. But now I know better and I've realized that Japan's milk is just genuinely different from what I'm used to.

In any case, I looked through the forum and couldn't find anything on it so I'm going to ask here:
What do the Japanese do to prepare their milk for consumption?
I know that some countries use methods such as Pasteurization and then there's homogenization....
When preparing the milk for market is there a special thing that the Japanese do differently from America? One friend told me it was pollution that caused the milk to taste so bad but I'm really curious what you guys say ^.^

[AJBryant]

It's hyper-pasturized.

That is, it's treated at much higher temperatures than in the US, so it comes out tasting funky.

[ebear215]

Now I'm wondering why they would want to raise the temperatures that high. Does it get rid of more of the germs or something?..... Well now that I have a name for what they do I can go google it! Thanks ^.^

[chikara]

.... drinking nothing but 2% milk .....

What is the other 98%

Now I'm wondering why they would want to raise the temperatures that high. Does it get rid of more of the germs or something?.....

Yes, pasteurisation does not kill all micro-organisms, that would be sterilisation. The higher the temperature the more micro-organisms are (theoretically) killed.

[becki_kanou]

Maybe I'm just used to Japanese milk after all these years, but it tastes fine to me.

Also I love, love, love the fact that you can still get milk delivered to your house in a glass bottle! I feel like a 50s housewife (in a good way) whenever the milkman comes to deliver my milk.

[Harisenbon]

Maybe I'm just used to Japanese milk after all these years, but it tastes fine to me.

Same here, although I remember coming here when I was younger and feeling that the milk tasted weird.

While they have a bunch of hyper-pasteurized milk, there are also a few brands that have low-heat pasteurization. So instead of hitting the milk for 12 seconds at 200 (or whatever they cook it at) they do it for 8 minutes at 120. This supposedly results in the milk retaining more of the minerals than the standard way, while still killing the same amount of germs.

I had some milk when I went back to the states a couple of months ago, and I never realized how thin it is compared to Japanese milk. I felt like I was drinking water.

[yukamina]

I had some milk when I went back to the states a couple of months ago, and I never realized how thin it is compared to Japanese milk. I felt like I was drinking water.

Really? Are you sure it was US milk vs Japanese milk and not the percent? Like, skim milk, 1%, 2%, whole milk...etc.
I've never had Japanese milk...

[becki_kanou]

Maybe I'm just used to Japanese milk after all these years, but it tastes fine to me.

Same here, although I remember coming here when I was younger and feeling that the milk tasted weird.

I had some milk when I went back to the states a couple of months ago, and I never realized how thin it is compared to Japanese milk. I felt like I was drinking water.

Ah... maybe that's it, I never really just drink a glass of milk. I usually just use it in coffee, cooking etc. I do love the availablity of drink yogurt, though. If I recall correctly, it was never all that popular in the States, but here I can get it any コンビニ.

[Harisenbon]

Really? Are you sure it was US milk vs Japanese milk and not the percent? Like, skim milk, 1%, 2%, whole milk...etc.
I've never had Japanese milk...

Yes. Yes I am.
The whole milk that I was drinking in the states felt thinner and more watery than the milk I would drink in Japan.

If you've never had Japanese milk, why would you doubt the experience of someone who had?

[two_heads_talking]

.... drinking nothing but 2% milk .....

What is the other 98% .

you have that backwards.. 2% of the milk is milkfat, the rest is milk.. funny how people get confused with that.

From what I remember, japanese cows are fed a completely different diet than American cows and that also has a huge difference in the taste of the milk. I was also under the impression that most Japanese milk was somewhere in the range of 8% or 10% milkfat making it much more rich that the American counterparts.

When I was in Japan, the only way I could drink regular milk was if it was in a cereal bowl with cereal. I could only handle strawberry or chocolate milk on it's own. And milk was crazy expensive so, I usually avoided the extra cost and had powedered milk sent over from the US>

[Qaantar]

So I guess I'm the only one that has ever used "half and half" for a bowl of cereal?

I wouldn't recommend doing that too often. I haven't done it in years, and only then to finish off some stuff that was nearing its expiration date.

I always wondered about Japanese milk since I read "Yotsubato" where there were a couple of stories revolving around milk and the way the story went, it certainly seemed quite delicious. Now I'm even more curious to try some...

[Insomnia]

Hmm, during my stay there, the milk tasted fine to me..

[Mike Cash]

I am a lifelong milk hater, both U.S. and Japan, so I haven't spent much of my life browsing the milk section of supermarkets. My impression, however, is that Japan doesn't offer the same variety of different percentages of milkfat and whatnot as does the U.S. I believe that 3.8% is considered pretty typical for milk in Japan.

Japan Wikipedia on Milk

[Nateo]

Same for France I believe.

I like that taste

[keatonatron]

I happen to like Japanese milk a lot more than American milk. It tastes more "natural" to me, even if the exact opposite is true

The difference most likely boils down to taste (er, preference). If a Japanese person were to go to America and try some milk, they would probably think it tastes too rich and not like it.