Arizona
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Backlog: I got a box of this from an aunt for my birthday. She knows I’m a tea lover, so she gets me some different bagged teas on occasion. I have had the canned drink before, but try to avoid things like that in general so I don’t remember it very well. This morning I steeped up a hot mug of this with breakfast, and I was surprised. It was very mild and unassuming, unlikely to force itself on you as a favourite but definitely a drinkable bagged green tea. I am not much for iced tea, but I am going to do some up iced at some point and see how I feel about that. It’s one of those teas that I don’t see myself reaching for, but would be nice to have kicking around at work or for making the odd iced tea if I feel like it. Far better than the Tetley bagged greens I have had before.
I like it. Love it. Adore it. Because, well… this tea is life, man. I mean… can you really imagine something better on a steamy-hot afternoon? No. Nononono, I don’t think so. Compare it to other iced ‘teas’, such as Nestle, Brisk… Not that I don’t like ‘em, but you can’t call a cat ‘cat’ if it isn’t a cat. Dig? This is, with its refreshing taste of honey, the best iced tea as far as I know. Plus the ginseng gives it a unique twist. And I hear ginseng is good for the body. No offense to Lipton though, they’re good.
But still, you can’t really call it tea if it isn’t tea.
Is it real tea?
Whatever.
Preparation
Brisk and Nestea are two tea brands among others. Maybe they taste differently than the biggest tea brands, but it’s still tea. I know that Nestea is not tea in itself, but it’s near from and it tastes like. About Brisk, their iced tea is completly real. It’s a sub-brand of Lipton, one of the most known brands of tea all around the globe. By cons, I agree with you about the AriZona one. It’s delicious!
My sweetheart told me that a friend of him drinks four cans of it a day because, first, it tastes really good and, second, you get all the vitamins C you need by doing it. Personnally, I think that this drink is very refreshing. The ginseng and the honey together give an aftertaste of tobacco, but it’s perfect like that! And all above this, my kitsch side, the design with the blossoms is really cute!
This is pretty good bottle tea verses others in your average 7-11. Nothing will beat fresh brewed tea. It’s like comparing boxed cookies to mom’s fresh under baked, soft, warm cookies. I used to drink this more. It’s a-okay for a convenience item, though I can’t honestly remember the last time I drank it!
Got a couple bags of this form Jaime (thanks!) and tried icing one today, since that’s how I usually prefer my fruity green teas. It’s kind of a reddish color, almost like blood orange juice. I can smell the mandarin, even iced, and I taste mandarin and honey while sipping. But, then it fades into this really strong ginseng flavor and aftertaste, which I find rather unfortunate. Aftertaste is important, and this one is much too herb-y.
If it weren’t for the ginseng I’d happily drink this again – it is nice and sweet without needing to add anything – but as is? :(
Preparation
Whenever I go to Louisville, I stay with my hetero-life partner’s parents. Mom and Diddy Murphy are great…but Mom Murphy always waits to do her major grocery shopping until we come (third floor condo = wait for the packmules to visit before buying more than 3 bags full).
It’s okay, though, because they thoughtfully leave me in the tea aisle every time. I’ve found all kinds of new brands/varieties that I can’t find here; this is one of them.
The strongest taste is honey. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought I’d put honey in to sweeten it. There’s some ginseng, yup, and a bit of mandarin oranges, but it’s mostly honey that I taste. I don’t like my tea sweetened at all, so it’s not one of my favorites. And if it oversteeps any at all, blech.
Preparation
AriZona’s iced teas have always been hit or miss with me. Their standard lemon flavored iced tea used to be my go-to, no frills beverage. Once they started coming out with more complex iced tea flavors bombarded with fruit fusions and energy potions (lol), the more I strayed from AriZona’s drinks altogether—with the exception of maybe their Green Tea w/ Ginseng & Honey variety.
Well, it wasn’t until my sister implored me to try their newish Southern Style Sweet Tea that I came running back to their tall $0.99 cans again. Everything I loved about their basic lemon iced tea in terms of simplicity, I found in this iced tea. No frills and straight to the point, even when it comes to the packaging*. It is what it says it is, and that’s an iced tea sweetened with gobs of sugar for a deliciously refreshing, thirst-quenching experience.
For me, that’s what puts this sweet tea above its competition (i.e. McDonald’s $1 Sweet Tea): overall, it’s a refreshment and it owns up to it.
Did I mention how refreshing this sweet tea is? ;P
*An interesting side note about AriZona’s original Sweet Tea packaging, before it was changed due to racial undertones: http://www.snopes.com/racial/business/arizona.asp
Let us presume for a moment that not all bottled teas are evil. And let us further presume that sweetening green tea is also not evil. If we categorize this as tea-in-a-can and line it up against other bottled teas of a similar price point, there is simply no contest. If it’s hot outside, and you’re walking around the Pacific Place Neighborhood in Seattle, this is a fantastic beverage. Especially since you can drop a single on the counter and walk away with a great cooling beverage.
