The Hard Tea Brand That Is Mediocre At Best

If you're a tea drinker then chances are you're familiar with the Lipton brand. This company has been around since the 1800s and is known for producing everything from tea bags to ready-to-brew powdered versions. But recently the company decided to go hardcore with its first-ever alcoholic iced tea. This lineup comes in five fun flavors — Lemon, Peach, Citrus Green Tea, Half & Half, and Strawberry. You can also try all five by picking them up in a variety pack. 

However, after we tasted and ranked this brand of hard iced tea, purchasing them isn't something that Daily Meal would recommend. While Lipton may be good at making non-alcoholic teas, the spiked version just isn't the same. They don't pack the same punch in terms of flavor as well as aroma, which means you might be better off sticking to a different brand if it's something boozy you're after.

The first major problem with the hard tea lineup from Lipton is that the types we tried are lacking in flavor. Unlike the company's simple tea bags, the hard iced teas don't have the same nuance to their taste. In fact, they don't have much aroma, either. That means that you won't pick up on subtle tasting notes like you might in a cup of basic (but perfect) iced tea.

Unfortunately, this doesn't change when you switch up the flavors. In Lipton's Hard Iced Tea Lemon variety, you'll find the fruit isn't as pronounced as you might like. Rather than getting strong sour notes on your tongue, you'll just wind up with a vague citrus taste that alludes to lemon and leaves you wanting more. This same problem is prominent in the Citrus Green Tea version, although that option does have a bit more balance.

On top of that, some people report that they're cloyingly sweet. This not only drowns out the taste of the tea itself but can also cover up the booze and drowns out the whole adult feel of the beverage.

Lipton's Hard Iced Tea might leave a lot to be desired in terms of taste, but they're not lacking in alcohol. Each can contains 5% ABV, which is the same as other popular spiked tea brands such as Twisted Tea or Arnie's Spiked Iced Tea. The alcohol comes from a triple-filtered malt base, which has a neutral taste. While this might have been intended to let the flavors of the tea shine through, unfortunately, it just adds to the lack of complexity of the drink.

Beyond the alcohol, they also contain 18 grams of sugar in each 12-ounce serving. That's a fair amount of sugar and may lead to the sickly sweet taste that some users report. Despite these downsides, they are made with real brewed tea, so at least Lipton stays true to its original roots in some respect.

If you're determined to try Lipton Hard Iced Teas anyway, the choice is up to you. Just know that its lack of flavor means you're probably better off sticking to other boozy brands.