Iced Tea Reviews

While we love the idea of always having a freshly-brewed pitcher in the fridge, we're often on the go and have to make a grab from the deli cooler. All summer long, our editors will be sampling bottled, canned and fast-food iced teas to let you know which ones are worth chugging, and which you should leaf behind.
Lipton Pure Leaf Black Tea with Lemon
Grade: B-
Tea purists will blanch at the extreme lemony sweetness, but those weaned on the powdered stuff will happily sip their way down memory lane. The flavor is remarkably strong and tangy with a lingering apple juice finish that's not so much refreshing as it is simply satisfying.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Stewart's Unsweetened Tea Refresher
Grade: F
We're all for utterly unadulterated, unfancy iced tea, but this harsh brew tastes like squeezings from bags left to moulder at the bottom of a pot. We sipped, swished with water, sipped again, spat it out, re-swished and ran off to brush our teeth repeatedly, and still the bitter, metallic tang that had set up camp at the backs of our tongues refused to depart quietly. We're seriously considering mouth-ectomies.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Joe Tea Lemon Half and Half
Grade: A
Call it an Arnold Palmer. Call it a half & half. Just don't forget to call us when Joe's coming over. While other brands attempt to pass off over-lemoned iced tea, Joe knows that the ultimate blend begins with equal parts of high quality, full-flavored iced tea and lightly tart lemonade. The finish is nothing short of sweet 'n sour sunshine in a bottle.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Arizona Iced Tea with Lemon Flavor
Grade: B-
Remember when you were fifteen and you'd hit up the convenience store for a post-practice drink? This is that iced tea, in all its tawdry glory. $.99 affords a tall 23 ounces of super-sweet, lemon-tinged black tea, and though the corn syrup sweetener gums up in the back of the throat, hey, it'll go great with that Twinkie.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Arizona Southern Style Sweet Tea
Grade: B-
Had this just been touted to us as a plain ol' sweetened tea, we'd pleased, even if not especially impressed. Problem is, it's billed as Southern-style sweet tea, which is a different critter entirely. Real sweet tea delivers a smooth, mellow slug of plain white sugary deliciousness to the whole palate, while this brew brings a weirdly artificial, cloying sweetness that sits just on top of the tongue. Hold out for the real deal.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

McDonald's Sweet Tea
Grade: A
We're pretty sure we'll catch heck from our Southern in-laws, but we just have to go ahead and say it -- Mickey D's Sweet Tea is every drop as delicious as the gallons we've slurped down at Lexington BBQ, the High Point Country Club or any given K&W Cafeteria in the North Carolina Triad. That is to say it's an ideal balance of tooth-cracking sweetness, mellow orange pekoe and gentle brain freeze, both smooth enough to sip all day and intensely sugary enough to ensure that it's a physical impossibility to do so.

It's most definitely sweet tea, rather than sweetened iced tea, so folks not familiar with this culinary signature of the South might want to just dip a toe in before they fully commit. At $.99 for a giant jug, it's a worthy experiment.

Also - purists, take note -- it's often served with a slice of lemon already tossed in, so speak up if you wish to avoid that.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Sobe Green Tea
Grade: D
Y'know what this doesn't taste like? Green tea. In fact, it tastes like watered-down white grape juice that someone spiked with mystery herbal infusion. Or a lime Saf-T-Pop that spent too much time on the doctor's desk. The very idea that Sobe markets this as green tea is downright lizardbrained.

Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Arizona Blueberry White Tea
Grade: B
Hello, fruity! This iced tea finds blueberry out in full force with some well-dressed pear on its arm. Though sweet, the tea isn't sugary, instead delivering its nectar au natural. The organic sweetness melds nicely with the earthiness of the tea, resulting in a summery swig that's the perfect antidote for a dog day afternoon.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Teany Green Tea with Ginseng
Grade: C+
While we're big fans of musician Moby's New York City tearoom and plenty of of his other bottled offerings, this one falls a little flat. It's not actively awful, by any means, but for a brew with all natural, health-friendly ingredients, the flavor has odd notes of artificial sweetener and feel slightly medicinal. We're all for reaping the body benefits. We just wish it didn't have to taste that way.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Ito En Japanese Green Tea
Grade: B+
This one's got a light, tannic body, with straightforward fresh, unsweetened green tea flavor that the can claims is a result of its having been "Produced with our state-of-the-art T-N (Tea & Natural) Blow technology." Further research reveals it as a technique that removes air from the can just before sealing, so as to prevent oxidation and ensure freshness. It works.

There's no weird or wow factor, but it's definitely more "healthy" feeling than either soda, or some of the other sweetened bottled tea offerings. It pairs well with sushi, sashimi and green salads.
Did we miss your favorite brew? Let us know on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL