I’ve been a fan of Yakult ever since I was a child. Though this drink has definitely become more popular in the west, I always enjoyed this sweet, citrus and vanilla drink while visiting family in Asia. So, when I saw that this recipe existed, I knew that I had to make a video about it. 

Yakult, for those who don’t know, is a creamy and citrusy probiotic drink originating from Japan, created by Dr. Minoru Shirota in the 1930s. This drink’s popularity quickly spread throughout most of Asia and eventually made its way to America and Europe in the 90s. And now, this drink can be found in most retail stores across America, even at Walmart! And it has even become popular enough to be featured in the Netflix movie “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”. So, I thought it would be fun to show a way to use this now more common ingredient in a recipe.

This particular recipe is not all that complicated, but you can easily modify it by adding in some fruit to add some more sweet complexity as well as some color and you can even change the flavor of soju to further emphasize this addition. There are also actually different yakult flavors than just the original such as Grape and Green Apple, but apparently they’re only available in Singapore for some reason… Though, there might be other similar brands with other flavors that you might want to experiment with.

Speaking of experimenting, the ratio of the liquids used to make this drink can be adjusted to your preferences, so definitely add more soju if you want a stronger drink, more yakult for the creamy, vanilla flavor, or more sprite for the lemon-lime flavor. But, regardless of your ratios, this creamy, sweet vanilla-lemon-lime drink will definitely hit the spot at your next summer barbecue.