Ever wondered what happened to Zima, the clear lemon-lime adult beverage of the '90s? Sadly, Zima never gained popularity like Four-Loko or Joose, but after some research, I discovered the plight of this once-forgotten adult malt beverage is still not over.

Once distributed in the U.S.,  Zima was "reformulated" by its manufacturer Molson Coors in 2007, but that's where things get a little hazy — until now.

You can imagine my surprise when I began stumbling upon multiple Reddit threads showing Zima being marketed it Japan. And people literally visiting bars in Japan because of Zima signs. This photo was posted by Imgur user CorneliusR2D2 on April 3, 2016, it was posted on Reddit, with the caption "My brother and I went to a bar in Japan just because they had a Zima sign."

Zima lives! By the looks of their website, Zima is marketed to Japan's night life and social crowd. They even have new Zima flavors like Zima Red and Zima White. There's even a Zima Black.

For me, this is significant because I still think about Zima constantly. I even ask my friends if they remember Zima. And most of them don't really care.

See what I mean?

I thought rediscovering Zima's existence would be more eventful. I had to know more. I knew the truth was near when I found Zima's Facebook page. At this point, the page has less than 5,000 likes — but it's extremely active.

All I can say is, damn. I miss Zima. Take a trip down memory lane and check out one of the first commercials.

Zima's come a long way. But my nostalgia-laced quest to find the exact reasons behind why the premiere adult beverage of my childhood literally vanished, would not be complete until I found the Zima Robot Band.

Behold Z-Machines. For the sake of everyone's sanity, we'll save the story behind Z-Machines for another time, but the video below will give you a pretty accurate description of the robot death metal mindfuck you're about to watch.

I'm not sure If Zima will ever be redistributed again, but at least we know it still exists — essentially with minimal effort. I reached out to the international contact of Molson Coors about the potentiality of Zima redistribution in the U.S., but received no response.

We can only hope that this ode to Zima will reach those who care enough and will be open to change. 

Cover Photo: Zima Facebook