PURPOSE: To prepare the subject beverage having excellent smell and taste and useful as a food, etc., by thermally sterilizing a fermentation substrate comprising a vegetable juice and a milk product, cooling the treated product, subjecting the cooled product to a lactic acid fermentation, mixing the fermented product with a fruit juice and further homogenizing the mixture.

CONSTITUTION: A fermentation substrate mixture comprising a vegetable juice (e.g. tomato juice) as a main fermentation raw material and a milk product such as milk as an auxiliary fermentation raw material (preferably in an amount of ≤ 3% [converted to fat-free milk solid content]) is thermally sterilized, cooled, mixed with a lactic acid bacterium (e.g. Lactobacillus.bulgaricus) and subjected to a lactic acid fermentation. The lactic acid fermentation is stopped and the product is mixed with at least a fruit juice (e.g. apple juice) preferably in an amount of 10-50 wt.% (expressed in terms of the raw fruit juice), followed by homogenizing the mixture to provide the objective beverage.