Lipton Sparkling Iced Tea

[Toliver]

I thought I would post this in this forum since it's ready-to-drink. 

Lipton has come out with Sparkling Iced Tea flavors in a can. The cans are tall, thin and on the smallish side, looking more like those energy drink cans (Monster, Red Bull, et al) than a soda can.

Here's a link to the Lipton web site (click).

 

The carbonation is odd. It doesn't have large bubbles. When you pour it into a glass and it foams up, the foam has very tiny bubbles and the foam doesn't disappear as quickly as the carbonated foam of a regular soda.

That being said, it comes in three "punch" flavors: Lemonade, Raspberry and Peach.

Run...Do not walk...and go buy the Peach flavor.  O.M.G. The other two flavors are just okay and are nothing to write home about (let alone write about it in a eGullet forum   ).

But the Peach flavor is amazing. It's like you just bit into an actual peach. Of course, that flavor version of the tea is sold out in most of the stores I've been in looking for it.   

Two thumbs up for the Peach version of this Lipton Sparkling Iced Tea.

[ElsieD]

I thought I would post this in this forum since it's ready-to-drink. 

Lipton has come out with Sparkling Iced Tea flavors in a can. The cans are tall, thin and on the smallish side, looking more like those energy drink cans (Monster, Red Bull, et al) than a soda can.

Here's a link to the Lipton web site (click).

 

The carbonation is odd. It doesn't have large bubbles. When you pour it into a glass and it foams up, the foam has very tiny bubbles and the foam doesn't disappear as quickly as the carbonated foam of a regular soda.

That being said, it comes in three "punch" flavors: Lemonade, Raspberry and Peach.

Run...Do not walk...and go buy the Peach flavor.  O.M.G. The other two flavors are just okay and are nothing to write home about (let alone write about it in a eGullet forum   ).

But the Peach flavor is amazing. It's like you just bit into an actual peach. Of course, that flavor version of the tea is sold out in most of the stores I've been in looking for it.   

Two thumbs up for the Peach version of this Lipton Sparkling Iced Tea.

Glad you like it but for me, 4 1/2 teaspoons of sugar per can is too sweet. I realize I am probably in the minority but it sure would be nice if some of these Iced tea drinks came with less sugar. If they did I'd line up to buy them.

[Toliver]

Glad you like it but for me, 4 1/2 teaspoons of sugar per can is too sweet. I realize I am probably in the minority but it sure would be nice if some of these Iced tea drinks came with less sugar. If they did I'd line up to buy them.

Yes, I saw that, too. But my sugar yardstick regarding canned ice tea was a can of Nestea Ice Tea with lemon I once had that I think had 18 grams    of sugar per serving. This was a while ago and I don't know if that still holds true so I considered the 4 & 1/2 tsps relatively not that bad. Besides, the tartness of the peach flavor seemed to counterbalance any sweetness. It didn't taste too sweet to me.

 

I'm also recently aware that McDonald's has finally put out a diet version of their Sweet Tea which I am interested in trying.

 

edited to fix some spellling

Edited June 11, 2015 by Toliver (log)

[Deryn]

Glad you like it but for me, 4 1/2 teaspoons of sugar per can is too sweet. I realize I am probably in the minority but it sure would be nice if some of these Iced tea drinks came with less sugar. If they did I'd line up to buy them.

 

I like my iced tea totally unsweetened. Apparently, I am more in the minority than you are, Elsie - so take heart. 

 

What is very strange to me is that I grew up having iced tea with no sugar in it - in Canada. Few, if any, people seemed to put sugar in their iced tea back then. Even my American relatives (northern states - New York mostly) didn't use sugar in their teas (iced or otherwise). But, these days, to find a restaurant (or even fast food joint) which even has an unsweetened ice tea (or knows how to make it!) is pretty well impossible in eastern Canada (can't vouch for the west) and yet I can find it at most restaurants in the States, especially the southern states ironically, with relative ease. What happened, Canadians?

 

I was in Pictou, Nova Scotia last summer at a charming restaurant and asked for an unsweetened ice tea. They were totally confused by my (what I thought was a simple) request, so I tried to explain - just make some tea and pour it over ice, please. They could not even seem to understand that simple 'recipe' but eventually produced something which I think was made from some kind of tea powder enhanced by a lemon extract (didn't ask for lemon). It was horrible. The food was wonderful but I would never go back there in summer if I was in the mood for iced tea.

 

When I visit Ottawa the only place I can get unsweetened ice tea is at Starbucks. Not even McDonalds offers it up north - though they do as soon as you cross the border into the States. It is not sold even in jugs in supermarkets as it is down south.

 

All that to say that, if a company offers iced teas, in bottles or cans, I will buy them (especially when I am travelling) IF they also make (and stores stock) unsweetened as well as sweetened. Most of us need to reduce our sugar consumption and this is a decent place to start.

[lindag]

I bought a few cans of this in my supermarket a couple months ago then it just disappeared from the stores altogether.  I was very surprised to find it available in cases at Amazon.  Imagine my surprise when I put the product in my shopping cart and then I was told it was not available to be shipped to where I live!  I contacted Amazon to find out that Lipton doesn't have a distribution outlet in my state  (or in any state with a smaller population).

Frankly, I loved the sparkling tea, I love carbonation and this had the right combination of bubbles and flavor and all the flavors were great.

I don't care if it has a little more sugar than average, I only drink one can once in a while.  I just wish I could buy it where I live.

[Deryn]

I just checked Amazon, lindag - and there are several offerings for the various flavours there but when I looked at who the actual seller was, in only 1 case was it labelled as Amazon per se. One was an outside seller, no mention of Amazon. Another couple were an outside seller but fulfilled by Amazon. Getting complicated these days to know who is really selling what via Amazon I guess.

 

I really wonder, now that Amazon is having to charge sales taxes, if that is not going to make buying certain things from them much more difficult, as you say, even if they don't mention that they are 'doing the job for Lipton', they may not even deliver in a state where there is no distribution center for various products.

 

Not sure I would think of this kind of product as being that easy to ship in single pack form over long distances, but, the expectation would be (based on historical/my experience over the years) that if a product is offered by Amazon per se, they have that figured out and have decided they can ship it - and ship it across state borders, many state borders if need be, or they don't usually sell it at all - or, at the very least, they state limitations up front (so you don't have to call and ask them why in your case you could not put the product in your basket).

 

For those who are enjoying this product I am sorry if it is hard to find. Seems Lipton doesn't really want to sell it if they won't make it widely available.

[rotuts]

if you have not thought about it nor tried it, you can fizz up anything at home via the 'M.R.'   'system'

 

this might be M.R.Tea

 

you will never look back.

 

or maybe to avoid confusion 

 

M.T.Tea     kudos to Toliver for the idea

[lindag]

 

For those who are enjoying this product I am sorry if it is hard to find. Seems Lipton doesn't really want to sell it if they won't make it widely available.

 

What really made me laugh was when the Amazon Customer Service person said (after he'd just told me they couldn't ship to my state) that I could easily have them ship it to another address.  I said , "why would I want to have it  sent to another state?"  Still, their customer service is better than anyone else, imo.

[Ashen]

I was excited to try the sparkling peach until I read the ingredients.. I hate hate HATE!!  the aftertaste of Acesulfame Potassium , and unfortunately Lipton loves putting it into their products, even the non-diet versions.  

 

one of the things I like about panera bread is that they have unsweetened ice tea .. plus they have honey on their  hot beverage condiment section..   a little menu hacking and mildly honey sweetened ice tea is awesome.