Iced tea is not difficult to make. Simply steep enough tea bags to provide an extra-strong brew. While still hot, add sweetener of choice and refrigerate until serving time. Serve the tea in tall glasses over ice with an optional slice or wedge of lemon.
Alternatively, simply twist off the cap of one of many pre-mixed, bottled iced teas and sip through a straw. We decided to explore the bottled teas. In local supermarkets, iced tea that has been sweetened and contains lemon or lemon flavoring dominates the selection. This formula accounted for six of the nine teas we selected. Of the others, two contained no lemon, one contained several herbs.
Nonetheless, the teas were not difficult to evaluate. Three elements vied for attention from the taste buds: tea, acid (from lemon and other ingredients) and sweetener (usually sugar). While faintly perfumed or lacking aroma, most of the teas made a quick, vivid initial impression and had a long, gradually declining aftertaste. Ideally, it seems, the sweet and tart elements should balance one another, allowing the tea flavor to come forward. But tea presents its own problem as it contains tannin that may taste unpleasantly bitter to those unaccustomed to the brew.
“Iced tea should taste like tea!” declared one of the tasters. But others did not agree. Each of the three elements dominated one or more of the teas and eight of the nine received one or more first-place votes. In the end, a tea-dominated blend, Lipton Real Brewed iced tea, sweetened but with no lemon, was most popular. (While this tea has no lemon, it does contain citric acid, which “provides tartness.”)
Of the two teas that tied for second place, Nantucket Nectars Iced Tea downplayed the lemon component by using the phrase “with a twist of lemon” on the label, while Snapple Lemon iced tea was praised for its sugar-acid balance.
With sweetened iced teas you have no knowledge of the quantityor qualityof tea in the brew, but you can count on a goodly dose of calories. Calorie content of the top three choices ranged from 70 to 100 per eight-ounce serving.
The teas were ranked on a score of 1 to 9, with 9 being highest. Prices are based on what we paid for them at the supermarket and may reflect sales or discounts from frequent-shopper cards.
And the winners are . . .
1. Lipton Real Brewed Iced Tea (16 ounces; 99 cents or 6.2 cents per ounce. 6 points.) “Real tea aroma.” “Strongest tea flavor.” “Sweet but not overly sweet.”
2. (tie) Nantucket Nectars Iced Tea (17.5 ounces, $1.69 or 10 cents per ounce, 5.1 points.) “Not too sweet, not too intense.” “Fresh tasting, tangy.” “Somewhat bitter aftertaste from tea tannins.”
Snapple Lemon Iced Tea (16 ounces, 99 cents or 6.2 cents per ounce, 5.1 points.) “Rich, red-brown color.” “Aroma lemony and pleasant.” “Nicely balanced flavors; tea dominates aftertaste.”
Others tested
3. Lipton Lemon (5).
4. Whole Foods Black (4.7).
5. Nestea (4.4).
6. Tazo (4.3).
7. Arizona Original (4.2).
8. President’s Choice (4).
