Twisted Tea Review: Your New Favorite Drink For Summer

Summer is quickly approaching and you’re probably thinking to yourself, What will my go-to summer drink be this year? Normally I’m a summer beer type of girl with wheats and lagers and German delights and pretzel beers (Yes, there is a NEW Pretzel beer from Shock Top called Twisted Pretzel Wheat. Order it at your local bar; it’s like a German beer haus in your mouth!). However, beyond just beers, there’s a delightful, light hard iced tea that piqued my interest: Twisted Tea.

Here’s something to note right off the bat: when you’re looking for Twisted Tea, you’re going to have to look hard if you live in Arizona. I went to several places, including a huge liquor store, and couldn’t find it. I finally managed to grab the last 6-pack at Fry’s (Which was hidden behind packs of pepperoni and drink straws in the liquor aisle. I don’t know about you but when I’m drinking, I usually don’t crave pepperoni. Maybe Fry’s knows something I don’t.) and merrily drove home. Either everyone is stocking up on this drink for summer or not many people want to carry it in Arizona.

Let’s back up a few Long Island Iced Teas and consider the initial assumptions. I always wanted to like Long Island Iced Teas, but whenever I try them no matter what bar I’m at each drink tastes like a liquid permanent marker. It’s just not pleasant to me and it doesn’t taste anything like iced tea to me. It’s as if I had taken the Sharpie the bouncer marked my hand with and licked it. Gross.

After searching high and low for Twisted Tea and purchasing the last hidden 6-pack, I had the initial fear of permanent marker liquid swirling around my brain. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the light and cool taste of the Twisted Tea. It didn’t taste anything like permanent marker yet still had a hint of iced tea. It was refreshing and light; perfect for summer. The lemon tang at the finish made me feel as if I was sitting out on a lake dock with a 6-pack enjoying the summer sun.

Nothing about this drink is heavy or sugary like a lot of other hard drinks. I’ve had Mike’s Hard Lemonade and several other liquer-ed up versions of summer drinks and they always leave a sugary film and if you have enough of them, make your stomach hurt. Although this drink does contain 31 grams of sugar per bottle (6% of your total calories for the day), it doesn’t taste like it.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size: 1 Bottle (12 oz)

Calories: 220

Calories from Fat: 0

Total Fat: 0 g

Saturated Fat: 0 g

Polyunsaturated Fat: 0 g

Monounsaturated Fat: 0 g

Trans Fat: 0 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 0 mg

Potassium: 0 mg

Total Carbohydrate: 31 g, 21% DV

Dietary Fiber: 0 g

Sugars: 31 g

Protein: 0 g

31 grams averages out to be about 8 teaspoons, which is your limit for daily added sugar per day based on a 2,000 calorie diet. That means more than one bottle of this drink will set you over the American Dietary Guidelines. Drinks like Mike’s Hard Lemonade contain 30.4 g of sugar per bottle but they leave you with this extra sugary taste. I would take a light and fresh-tasting Twisted Tea over that film any day.

Twisted Tea also has a high amount of carbs so if you’re in love with Atkins or are diabetic, you’ll need to be careful not to drink too much of this beverage. Even if you’re not in either of those categories, drinking more than two or the entire 6-pack of Twisted Tea is not recommended due to the high sugar and carbs.

When it comes to the packaging, Twisted Tea did it right. A lot of companies try to oversell their product with flashy colors or coupons or ridiculous commercials with women that are out of most guys’ league. They want to project a certain image, which is fine, but Twisted Tea opened up their market a little more. Their product is marketed towards men and women and has a cool yet breezy feel in both packaging and taste.

The first thing that came to my mind when picking it up was summer. The orange and yellow sun icon with an easy-to-read blue label seemed classic yet modern at the same time. Nothing was overdone and it put all the right thoughts into my head. I could picture myself with this drink loving a summer breeze or a baseball game with friends. It was bright and inviting without screaming in my face that I should buy it for my next outing. I could see tons of varieties of couples and singles buying this product and loving it.

The packaging is actually how I managed to find Twisted Tea amongst the pepperoni and straws. I saw the bright sun and tan liquid and knew I had found what I was looking for. It stands out among a lot of its competitors who have extremely bright or neutral color palettes. The fun colors of the girly drinks and the neutral IPA stickers give Twisted Tea a chance to appeal to both audiences without going over the top. It’s simple. It’s alcoholic. It’s refreshing tea taken to a brighter level.

As someone who normally doesn’t like iced tea products, I reconsidered my initial dislike for this type of beverage. I genuinely liked Twisted Tea and would certainly buy it again. It’s not so heavy on the iced tea flavor and the alcohol isn’t too high to make it into the permanent marker category. My first sip of Twisted Tea changed me into a believer and fan of hard iced tea. If you don’t like iced tea but you do like alcoholic drinks, I’d strongly suggest you reconsider and try this drink this summer.

For just $7.99 at Fry’s, you can kickback with a cold one. When you think about summer drinks for chilling by the pool, meeting some friends for day drinking, or relaxing after a hard day, think about Twisted Tea. You won’t go wrong relaxing with the 5% alcohol hard iced tea that goes down smooth and lifts your spirits at the same time. 

For other great summer treats try Draft Beer Flavored Jelly Beans and Fried Mac and Cheese Balls.

Summary

Reviewer

Mandy Ellis

Review Date

2014-04-21

Reviewed Item

Twisted Tea

Author Rating

4