I tested 5 hard iced teas from Twisted to Loverboy - I poured one down the sink & had to lie down af
HARD iced tea is becoming the official drink of summer. Move over, hard seltzers.
But with brands both big and small now getting in on the action - how do you know which one to choose?
Iced tea is as essential to summer as a boat on a lake, a backyard pool, or hot dogs on a grill.
So it makes sense that an alcoholic version of this classic beverage would soon enough become popular.
It seems hard to believe that it’s taken until the 2020s for this trend to take off.
Now, brands are trying to put their mark on the hard tea category.
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Hard iced tea is made with natural fermentation, so no spirits are added to create the alcohol content.
James Lawley is here to give you all the tea as he sips on five different varieties and marks each out of five.
Prices are from a local liquor store and may vary by area.
TWISTED TEA
- Price: $4.46 for 24oz can
- Score: five out of five
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If you’ve ever tried a hard iced tea, it’s probably this best-selling variety.
Cracking open the super-sized can, it smells exactly like regular iced tea and the taste is just as refreshing.
The flavor is delicate with a hint of lemon.
Although you can faintly taste the booze, it goes down very easily.
I can definitely see myself drinking this by the pool all day.
JIANT
- Price: $4.15 for 19.02oz can
- Score: two out of five
This peach-flavored hard iced tea is seven percent alcohol and has a strong aroma similar to cheap white wine.
The taste is more like cider. It’s acidic, and the peach flavor is tart, not sweet.
Despite being a sparkling drink, it does not taste fizzy.
It also left a bad residue in my mouth that I was all too glad to get rid of by moving on to the next drink.
ARNOLD PALMER
- Price: $2.04 for 12oz can (part of a multipack)
- Score: four out of five
Things improved when I crack open this five percent alcohol take on the PGA legend’s namesake drink.
Because an Arnold Palmer is half lemonade, this one goes down extra easy, although I would recommend serving it with lashings of ice.
The lemon taste is quite bitter but not so much that it ruins the overall flavor profile.
A sure crowd-pleaser for your cooler.
BEATBOX
- Price: $4.49 for 16.9oz carton
- Score: one out of five
At this point, I start regretting this taste test altogether.
For $4.49, Beatbox is the cheapest reason I’ve ever had to lie down in the afternoon.
It is 11 percent, and all 11 percent decides to hit me pretty hard as I drink this in the summer heat.
Despite its high alcohol content, Beatbox does have more enjoyable flavors present than Jiant.
But it’s just too strong to sip on, and there’s no way I would ever finish the whole carton.
In fact, the rest went down the sink.
LOVERBOY
- Price: $2.63 for 11.5oz can (part of multipack)
- Score: three out of five
Loverboy has a few different flavor options available and I opted for white tea peach.
Cracking open the can, it has a very strong floral, almost perfume aroma.
The white peach taste is surprisingly delicate, making the notes of lavender more dominant.
So I would recommend you choose this one because you like lavender, not peach.
At 4.2 percent, it is one of the more drinkable beverages out of the five.
But a six-pack cost a whopping $15.79, and it’s hard to justify hard iced tea as a gourmet drink.
CONCLUSION
While I love craft beers and spirits, I think the most well-known brands are the best when it comes to hard iced tea.
Twisted Tea is by far the most drinkable, enjoyable, and similar in taste to regular iced tea.
Beatbox and Jiant both allow the booze to overpower the flavor, leaving a bad aftertaste and an early afternoon headache.
If you’re looking for a flavorful twist, I would recommend Loverboy.
At 4.2 percent, it is easy to drink, although the price tag might not be so easy on the wallet.
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