What’s The (Iced) Tea?

Iced tea comes in so many different shapes, sizes, and flavors, that it is likely  you may find yourself questioning “Which one truly rules over the rest?” Through a survey conducted with fourteen students in Mrs. Gordienko’s 10th period Journalism class, it was found that Arizona, Brisk, and Peace Tea were the best tasting, while Honest Tea, Snapple, and Pure Leaf were the lowest quality in terms of taste.

Arizona Iced Tea reigned supreme out of the eight ice teas offered during the blind taste test: Arizona, Brisk, Fuze, Gold Peak Honest Tea, Peace Tea, Pure Leaf, and Snapple. The interest in this iced tea could be credited to the sugar concentration of the drink. Arizona iced tea offered three grams of sugar per ounce of liquid, which was more than any of the other iced teas presented in the survey. Along with this, it leads in calories with 300 per serving, 110 more than next with the most calories, Brisk Iced Tea. 

Before the individuals participated in the blind test, each person was to pick their top three iced teas. Once they were given the iced teas without identification, seven of the individuals in the survey were able to rank their preferred iced tea as the best tasting tea during the blind taste test. Arizona Iced Tea once again ended on top as the preferred iced tea for one to go and purchase at the store. The more interesting fact was that while only one individual chose Brisk Iced Tea as their preferred drink, it tied for second in the blind taste testing. Jeffery Ramos, a junior attending Pennridge High School, stated that Brisk is “the only brand that hasn’t cut cost in their product to make it cheaper while sacrificing taste. It tastes real and almost homemade.” Tied for second with Brisk in the blind taste testing survey was Peace Tea. Pennridge senior Brian Towsey described Peace Tea as having a “very strong flavor to it.” 

Two honorable mentions are Pure Leaf and Snapple, which consistently made the top three preferred iced tea list, but were the best tasting iced tea for only one individual. Mr. Towsey described Snapple as “having a very citrusy taste to it.”

The biggest upset iced teas through the survey were Honest Tea and Fuze. Honest Tea was not able to make any of the students’ top three preferred choices. Honest Tea was also the tea with the smallest sugar concentration, with approximately 1.5 grams of sugar per liquid ounce. Fuze Iced Tea also did not make it into anybody’s top three preferred iced teas. Ryan Benscoter, a junior at Pennridge High School, mentioned, “I haven’t ever really had Fuze. I have only had it once or twice because there are other better teas available.”

Even though there are a lot of avid iced tea drinkers, it is important to limit how frequently the drink is consumed. According to the Loyola University Medical Center, iced tea can lead to the formation of kidney stones. Dr. John Milner, assistant professor at the university, stated, “For people who have a tendency to form the most common type of kidney stones, iced tea is one of the worst things to drink.” While Dr. Milner says that drinking water is the best option, drinking real lemonade (not powdered) is another alternative to iced tea.