Lipton Hard Iced Tea Coming in 2023
Lipton Hard Iced Tea
Pepsi’s Iced Tea brand Lipton just announced that in 2023 it’ll be coming out with a new product — one with an adult twist, Lipton Hard Iced Tea. This launch is going to be in partnership with FIFCO USA, which will produce the Lipton line of alcoholic products.
“Connecting America’s favorite tea brand with FIFCO’s expertise in this hot and growing segment allows us to leverage 130 years of brand history that consumers already know and love,” says Piotr Jurjewicz, CEO of FIFCO USA, in a press release. “Our FIFCO USA product development team stayed true to Lipton’s high quality and great taste. And based on our consumer research, we expect a strong brand launch and great response from consumers.”
Hard Iced Tea
It’s safe to say that hard iced tea has a stoutly divided fanbase. People either love the taste, or they hate it. That said, hard iced teas are growing in popularity. Much of this is due to the Boston Beer Co.’s brand of hard iced tea, Twisted Tea, which recently branched out to offer a Twisted Tea Sweet Tea Whisky. Pepsi originally sought a partnership with Boston Beer Co. for its Lipton Hard Iced Tea product line, but Boston Beer Co. believed that the products would be in direct competition with its Twisted Teas. Pepsi seems to be making its move into the alcoholic beverage industry more cautiously than its competitors. Unlike Coca-Cola, which has launched or announced five alcoholic products in the last two years, Pepsi has thus far only launched one product, Hard Mountain Dew, in early 2022.
An Alcoholic Drink with Caffeine
While we don’t yet know the caffeine content of Lipton Hard Iced Tea, it’s safe to guess that the upcoming products will contain some caffeine. Alcohol and caffeine have had a contentious relationship in the past. After several controversies, the FDA deemed caffeinated alcoholic drinks unsafe in 2010. However, the beverages in question contained high alcohol and high caffeine levels, which hard iced teas do not.
Most Hard Iced Teas contain some level of caffeine, though the amount of caffeine can range drastically. Reigning hard iced tea category leader Twisted Tea Hard Iced Tea contains 30 MG of caffeine, which is roughly equivalent to a glass of non-alcoholic iced tea. This is considered a “medium” amount of caffeine as its equivalent to 1/3 of a cup of coffee. In comparison, Hard Seltzer category leaders White Claw and Truly have very little caffeine in their Iced Tea products. Truly states that its iced tea line only contains 9 mg of caffeine per 12 oz serving.
The Details
Though the details of Lipton Hard Iced Tea are still few, there are a few concrete facts that we know. First, these hard iced teas will have an alcoholic content of 5% ABV. This is in line with Twisted Tea, White Claw Iced Tea, and Truly Iced Tea, which all keep to a 5% ABV. Lipton Hard Iced Tea will come in four flavors, Lemon, Peach, Strawberry, and Half and Half. As to when we will see these products hit the shelves, all we know is that it will be in the “first half” of 2023.
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The peach is the best I will take 100 12 packs of peach only