Why Can't They Get Iced Tea Right?

Why Can't They Get Iced Tea Right?

Such a simple thing and no one is doing it right. I am talking about supermarket iced tea.
Snapple will give you flavors galore either in highly sweetened or chemical diet versions.
Arizona is about the same deal. So why don't they offer a simple unsweetened tea?

Lipton does offer plain unsweetened tea, but it is hard to find., highly priced and in heavy glass containers.

Honest Tea, used to be a favorite, with very little sweetener...still around under new ownership
and again overpriced.

Why can't any of them do a simple thing right? Anyone have a clue?

I feel your pain! It drives me bonkers that I can't find bottled iced tea without sugar, lemon or assorted fruit flavors. I've bought the Lipton unsweetened tea (in the glass bottle) before, and it's acceptable, but still tastes a bit odd to me. I have no idea why good-tasting, plain tea is so rare and elusive. I buy Lipton Cold Brew iced tea bags for home use, so I've started just brewing it at home and taking it with me in a reusable bottle when I go out.

We can get Red Diamond here in most grocery stores. It is cheap but does not taste much different that water. Interestingly the Unsweet costs a little more that the Sweet.

I really like Tejava. The box says "Premium Iced Tea Handpicked Microbrewed Unsweetened." I used to buy it by the case in Trader Joes in CA for $1 a bottle (33.8 oz). Here in TX I can only find it occasionally at Pier One or Sprouts at about $1.60.

Lately I've been buying oolong tea in big plastic bottles at the Asian store. The Japanese version is about $4 but the Taiwanese is $2 (and oolong is originally from Taiwan).

Lipton Southern Style isn't bad, it's about the only bottled tea i can stand. Iced tea should NOT have lemon in it! I just don't get people who would take a bitter drink and add something sour to it. I love lemons too, just don't put them in my tea!

I find it amazing, the difference in the quality of iced tea that I drink in restaurants every day during my lunch. Even they, can't seem to get it right. There a few "non brew" tea bags out there on the shelves (Lipton, for one) that make it very simple to "brew" a gallon of ice tea in my fridge without having to boil water and then steep tea bags for a while and then have to wait until the tea cools enough to be put in the fridge. As far as these "bottled" tea's are concerned, I haven't found one yet that has it all.

Here in Oklahoma--EVERYPLACE makes tea in house and you can always get GIANT to-go cups of good tea---AND--they have BOTH Sweet and NOT--so it really is easy to mavoid the canned products altogether--i dont think i have bought one in a can in the five years since iv been here.

I have to hunt and hunt for bottled teas unsweetened. I like to taste the tea!

I think Tiki makes a good point. Freshly brewed, doesn't receive the credit it deserves as a contributing factor in the quality of the beverage served! I notice that if I make a gallon or two of tea and refrigerate a large bottle "for later", that the taste changes within 24 hours of storage. I know this happens with coffee, but hadn't thought about it in regards to cold tea storage. It would seem that this would extend to the bottled versions that have to contain various additives to preserve them for long-term storage.

I love unsweet tea and it is impossible to find it bottled in the South. When I am in NYC, I look for Teas Teas in bottles. I have thought about ordering a case online, but the shipping is pretty expensive.

I grew up on my Dad's favorite, Nestea powder Iced Tea, I loved it, after I joined the Navy got stationed in Va. met my future ex-wife (Va. native) and started drinking home brewed sun tea I could never touch that Nestea stuff again.

in n.e. or s.e. pa, harrisburg dairy has a brand called southern style unsweetened ice tea that is very good. it is in 1 pint or 1/2 gallon sizes.1/2 gallon costs about $1.75.i drink this alot. around here, the lipton unsweetened is near impossible to find.the only place i can find the harrisburg diary ice tea is in rite-aid drug stores.

quote:

Originally posted by ilianexsi
I buy Lipton Cold Brew iced tea bags for home use, so I've started just brewing it at home and taking it with me in a reusable bottle when I go out.

At last a voice of reason and good fiduciary sense-----------brew it yourself,in bulk and cheaply,at home and then pack it up and go when and as you need plus you always have at home.

russ2304

Nestea in bottles, we find it in the soda section of the supermarket, is good.

I used to drink the pre-sweetened stuff that my grandma had at her house when I was a kid. Now I just can't stomach any of those (powdered mix or from the bottle). My other grandma had the right idea: she would put about 10 tea bags in a large glass jug with water and set it out on the picnic table on a sunny summer day and a few hours later, sun tea! Since I don't have a picnic table (or a yard for that matter or a place to set a jug in the sun) in the city, I just buy Lipton tea bags, boil water, steep, cool down and have my own unsweetened tea. I prefer it unsweetened nowadays and if I'm in the mood for something sweet, I put some honey and lemon in it or a half a small can of pineapple juice and some crushed ice. Very refreshing!

quote:

Originally posted by russ2304

quote:

Originally posted by ilianexsi
I buy Lipton Cold Brew iced tea bags for home use, so I've started just brewing it at home and taking it with me in a reusable bottle when I go out.

At last a voice of reason and good fiduciary sense-----------brew it yourself,in bulk and cheaply,at home and then pack it up and go when and as you need plus you always have at home.

russ2304

"Lipton Cold Brew" That's tea I meant in my post above, You can make it sweet, or unsweetened. Good product for ice tea lovers.

quote:

Originally posted by billyboy

My other grandma had the right idea: she would put about 10 tea bags in a large glass jug with water and set it out on the picnic table on a sunny summer day and a few hours later, sun tea!

Billyboy, did we have the same grandmother? My Nana in Texas did the same thing, and it was the greatest tea I'd ever had. I miss sweet tea from growing up in the South, and that's one thing that you can't get anywhere up North, sadly (sweet tea that's any good, I mean). Chris

quote:

Originally posted by plb

I really like Tejava. The box says "Premium Iced Tea Handpicked Microbrewed Unsweetened." I used to buy it by the case in Trader Joes in CA for $1 a bottle (33.8 oz). Here in TX I can only find it occasionally at Pier One or Sprouts at about $1.60.

I concur! I love Tejava and it is in fact the only plain unsweet tea I have ever seen in a bottle. Sadly I can only get it at Trader Joe's in MA (and don't have one too near me)... in CA you can get it more places and in 16(?)oz bottles.

I think we may have, sir!! Grandma got me hooked on sun tea, afternoon tea with her at lunch and lots of water. She definitely redefined my drinking habits in a good way. Before that, it was a lot of carbonated, sweetened drinks. I don't think I've ever had sweet tea before! How would you describe it?

quote:

Originally posted by ayersian

quote:

Originally posted by billyboy

My other grandma had the right idea: she would put about 10 tea bags in a large glass jug with water and set it out on the picnic table on a sunny summer day and a few hours later, sun tea!

Billyboy, did we have the same grandmother? My Nana in Texas did the same thing, and it was the greatest tea I'd ever had. I miss sweet tea from growing up in the South, and that's one thing that you can't get anywhere up North, sadly (sweet tea that's any good, I mean). Chris

quote:

Originally posted by russ2304

quote:

Originally posted by ilianexsi
I buy Lipton Cold Brew iced tea bags for home use, so I've started just brewing it at home and taking it with me in a reusable bottle when I go out.

At last a voice of reason and good fiduciary sense-----------brew it yourself,in bulk and cheaply,at home and then pack it up and go when and as you need plus you always have at home.

russ2304

Thanks! Plus, I tend to like it a bit strong-- I get those extra-big cold brew bags and put one in a really big mug. Iced tea is about all I drink at home anymore-- I'm trying to cut down on the soda.

Mr. Coffee's Ice Tea Maker + 8 bags Luzianne = 3 quarts of icy goodness ...

quote:

Originally posted by Jim2903

Mr. Coffee's Ice Tea Maker + 8 bags Luzianne = 3 quarts of icy goodness ...

Of course, that should be ICED tea ... slap me now

quote:

Originally posted by ilianexsi

I feel your pain! It drives me bonkers that I can't find bottled iced tea without sugar, lemon or assorted fruit flavors. I've bought the Lipton unsweetened tea (in the glass bottle) before, and it's acceptable, but still tastes a bit odd to me. I have no idea why good-tasting, plain tea is so rare and elusive. I buy Lipton Cold Brew iced tea bags for home use, so I've started just brewing it at home and taking it with me in a reusable bottle when I go out.

I feel the same way. I dont use sugar in my tea, and have been using Lipton Cold Brew for several years now.
I think the majority rules here.
More people like sugared tea, and its not profitable to market mass produced tea without sugar.
Oh well, the little people lose again.

I agree with all of those that mentioned Tejava. Tejava is the only tea I've ever seen that was unsweetened in a bottle. In Arizona you can get it at Trader Joes and AJ's. I don't understand why anyone would put sugar in their tea, as far as I'm concerned that's morally reprehensible.

quote:

Originally posted by Greyghost

Why Can't They Get Iced Tea Right?

Such a simple thing and no one is doing it right. I am talking about supermarket iced tea.
Snapple will give you flavors galore either in highly sweetened or chemical diet versions.
Arizona is about the same deal. So why don't they offer a simple unsweetened tea?

Lipton does offer plain unsweetened tea, but it is hard to find., highly priced and in heavy glass containers.

Honest Tea, used to be a favorite, with very little sweetener...still around under new ownership
and again overpriced.

Why can't any of them do a simple thing right? Anyone have a clue?

Greyghost, be watching for Milo's Tea, because it may be coming your way.

It's been a staple for decades at my favorite burger joint in B'ham, but it's spreading rapidly. If I don't brew my own, this is the only thing I buy, because it's so close to the Tender Leaf tea my mother brewed in the '60's.

Their sweet tea has only 3 ingredients: tea, water, sugar.

The unsweetened has 2: tea, water.

Now novel!

http://www.milostea.com/

My Mom used Constant Comment tea and always boiled the water.Never sweetened.Wonderful tea when it was cooled and put on ice!!!!

I hate "sweet tea" and no longer make "sun tea" since I read an article about some kind of bacteria thriving in those big gallon tea brewing bottles.

Then, I had a friend tell me, she just throws one of those industrial-sized (Lipton's, found at Costco, now labeled cold brew)bags in a gallon of cold water. Voila, a few hours later, in the fridge is the most tasteful and clear refreshing teas known to mankind.

All of life should be so easy, refreshing and deliceous!!

I'm from the south and I will tell that I have never known but two other individuals that drink their tea unsweetened, besides myself.

I've been to lunch with others that ordered unsweetened tea and then proceeded to dump the sweet n low, or equal, or whatever else comes in those little packets, into their iced tea.

I'm okay with that - it's tea after all - I'm not really sure that tea was meant to be served on ice, or coffee for that matter. I like it freshly steeped every day and poured over ice - nothing else added - and I've had it that way every day for years.

Pre bottled tea,like pre bottled lemonade just can't come close to home made...just not possible!!!!

^^Yes. The only kind that is good in the bottle is Lipton Unsweetened Black. Everything else is too sweet.

Also, Hardee's and McD's unsweetened tea is awful. AWFUL. Culver's has the best iced tea.

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Pre bottled tea,like pre bottled lemonade just can't come close to home made...just not possible!!!!

When it's Milo's, it's possible!

As mentioned before Teas' Tea by Ito En is really, really good. Look for it at a better price and in bigger bottles in Asian markets. I manage an organic coffee and tea house and we brew fresh unsweetened iced tea each day so I'm super picky and theirs is very good. I like Tejava as well but the Teas' Tea tastes fresher to me.

Mellowroast,

I checked out the link you gave for Milo's iced tea. They have it at a store about a mile from me.
I'll get some the next time I'm there.

Pogo, as with anything, homemade tea can be brewed to suit individual taste. However, Milo's is super and is so close to what my mother brewed in the '60s. If you try it, I hope you like it.

Well I'll be danged, Milo's is expanding. At least with tea that this. I adore their hamburgers and fries. I make my own tea but I won't turn down Milo's.

Red Diamond also makes bottled tea. I've had it in Birmingham.

For those that are drinking unsweet, why not just boil water, let steep, then cool off? I've never had any tea that hasn't steeped in hot water. Why don't y'all do it that way? Is the flavor weak?

quote:

Originally posted by BhamBabe
For those that are drinking unsweet, why not just boil water, let steep, then cool off? I've never had any tea that hasn't steeped in hot water. Why don't y'all do it that way? Is the flavor weak?

I do this when I make it at home in my coffeemaker. I stick the teabags in the coffee carafe & let the hot water bathe them. Then I leave them in the water for half an hour. Then I squeeze the bags & pour the whole thing over ice & drink it.

It's when I'm out & about & want to drink something besides water that I realize no one has iced tea like Culver's.


For those of you who drink Sweet Tea, my mother was asking today if she can make it with honey instead of white sugar? She boils the water & sweetens it, then adds the teabags to the hot sweetened water. (My stepfather was stationed in SC to train for Iraq & spent a good 6 months there & is now completely enamored with sweet tea.) I have no idea, so any info would be appreciated.

quote:

Originally posted by stricken_detective

[quote
I do this when I make it at home in my coffeemaker. I stick the teabags in the coffee carafe & let the hot water bathe them. Then I leave them in the water for half an hour. Then I squeeze the bags & pour the whole thing over ice & drink it.

It's when I'm out & about & want to drink something besides water that I realize no one has iced tea like Culver's.


For those of you who drink Sweet Tea, my mother was asking today if she can make it with honey instead of white sugar? She boils the water & sweetens it, then adds the teabags to the hot sweetened water. (My stepfather was stationed in SC to train for Iraq & spent a good 6 months there & is now completely enamored with sweet tea.) I have no idea, so any info would be appreciated.

Gotcha.

I'm sure she could. Not much different than a simple syrup. My grandmother uses a ss for sweetness due to health problems in one household. Some can't have sugar and others can't live without it (her and her sweet tooth!)

Personally, I can tell a difference in taste by using a ss but it's not a deal breaker.

I've never boiled the bags with the sugar mixture. I just add the sugar to the jug, pour the hot steeped tea over it, stir to dissolve, then add cold water. Let it sit on the counter until room temp. Placing hot tea in the fridge causes cloudy tea...something I don't like

My grandmother does nearly the same, skipping the sugar part. She brings out the ss and lets it come to room temp before serving.

Considering I drink nearly a gallon of tea a day by myself that's just a slight pain in the tookus to have to deal with.

Don't stroke out, it's decaf most of the time and I even add herbal teas to my schedule often. It's not always Red Diamond...as much as I'd love that.

I LOVE unsweetened ice tea and now you can it everywhere..but in the bottled kind, I've grown to really like GOLD PEAK unsweetened ice tea. Used to be only able to get it in the gas station and convenience stores, but now they are selling it at the local supermarket.

i know its loaded with sugar but i find "Turkey Hill" ice tea the best around and the diet is excellent also!!!

Mellowroast,

I picked up a gallon of sweet Milo's tea at the Walmart. Took it home and had a 32oz glass with lots of real limes added. You're right, tastes like dear old moms tea. Thanks for the lookout!

Pogo: Whew! I'm on pins and needles whenever I recommend a product or restaurant. Thanks for the update! Really glad you like it!

Another vote for Lipton's Cold Brew. I usually cut the recommended amount of water a little, and leave the bags in for a long time. Makes good strong tea, and I just have it over ice with a squirt of concentrated lemon juice. I really, really, dislike sweet tea.

I rely on my Mr coffee tea pot, good ingredients, and the recognition that ice tea has a very short shelf life

It's like anything else. Too much sugar for you could be not enough for someone else, so I'd make it strong and add nothing if I were Sir Thomas.

I never could figure out why people put lemon AND sugar in tea, though, at least Nestea instant tea comes like that.

My favorite store bought iced tea is Red Diamond. I am not sure how widely available it is. I can get it at the two Wal-Marts near me.

I have NEVER liked store bought tea until this one. Ingredients are sugar, water, tea and lastly 1 preservative. It is the best. I drink about a gallon a day.

My personal peeve is at a restaraunt. getting sweet tea thats still warm and melts all the ice by the time i get it. I alsways beg them to load the glass w/ ice 1st, but it doesnt help. this results in watery weak tea.
britt

What I hate is living in the south and not being able to get a decent glass of sweet iced tea. The restauranteurs these days are mainly not from here and don't know what it means. Sad to say.