Arizona Tea Water

Product Type:Tea: Alternative; Container: 20 oz PET
BevNET Review: Okay, so all tea is made with water right? That was our thought, too, when we first saw that AriZona was creating a line called “Tea Water.” Of course, what they really mean is that this product is, first and foremost, a bottled water product, which is why they’ve partnered with Nestle Waters and are using Poland Spring Water as the base. Second, they’ve added a splash of AriZona Iced Tea’s organic green tea to the mix. So basically, the resulting product tastes like bottled water with a splash of tea or, depending on your outlook, a watered down bottle of tea. Either way, this 20 oz. bottle has only 50 calories and has a decent amount of flavor to it. There’s a light amount of tea flavor to the mix, which has been kissed with just a touch of organic sugar and organic honey to sweeten it just a bit. It’s a very drinkable product, especially if you’re sick of all of the “enhanced” water products that are loaded with fake fruit flavors. Functionally, the product promises antioxidants, but it’s probably not going to be as credible as regular tea. As far as the packaging goes, the bottle is amber in color, which was supposedly done to block light from the product. However, it doesn’t hurt that it’s the same color as brewed black tea – a clear move to help reinforce the tea inside the drink. Still, our biggest issue with the design is that the AriZona branding seems downplayed in comparison to that of Poland Spring (thanks to the Poland Spring logo appearing horizontally on the label). This leaves the product with a somewhat confused look, where it’s unclear as to which brand takes precedence. Overall, it’s a refreshing tasting product, but the product needs to better convey what it is.Reviewed on: 7/1/2009

Product Type:Tea: Alternative; Container: 20 oz PET
BevNET Review: Made with 1 percent juice consisting of orange and pear juices, this product has a very natural tasting fruit flavor to its mix. There are also subtle notes of tea and honey, which pair nicely with the fruit flavors that they’ve added. For having only 20 calories per serving (about 50 per bottle), the product has surprisingly enjoyable flavor. We appreciate the “watered down” approach to creating a low calorie product, keeping artificial sweeteners out and the ingredient list simple and understandable. Plus, we think it tastes good enough to be a viable alternative to some of the other enhanced water products that are out there, especially since the product is both thirst quenching and enjoyable to the palate. On the outside, the product uses a 20 oz. bottle that’s tall and slim in design. They’ve covered the bottle’s ribbed area with an equally tall metallic label. Being so tall, there’s a lot of real estate – and they clearly felt the need to cover a decent amount of it. Unfortunately, this leaves the product with a look that’s hard for the eye to make sense of, especially since there’s a Poland Spring logo running horizontally and a bigger AriZona Tea Water logo running vertically. This leaves the label feeling rather disjointed, especially since you are likely to spend much more time reading the section that has the Poland Spring logo as it also has the product’s flavor name and a few of the selling points listed. Overall, we found this to be a surprisingly drinkable product, but, like the other flavors, the layout of the label could use some help.Reviewed on: 7/1/2009

Product Type:Tea: Alternative; Container: 20 oz PET
BevNET Review: Of the flavors that we received, this seems like the most marketable of the bunch. The combination of green tea and pomegranate has been a hit, likely because of having the double whammy of being a great flavor combo and for the implied antioxidant benefits. In this case, both flavors are fairly muted, which should be expected from a product that’s called “Tea Water.” Both flavors can still be distinguished from the mix, but ultimately the product still drinks very much like a flavored bottled water. They’ve given it a very light amount of sweetener from organic evaporated cane juice and organic honey, to the tune of having only 5g of sugar per 8 oz. serving (and 20 calories). That should make it a good choice for the health conscious consumer who doesn’t like artificial sweeteners. Lastly, there’s a slightly acidic note to the finish, which is maybe just a tad bit too bitter for our liking. On the packaging front, there’s a lot going on, with a variety of different text elements, colors, and graphics on the drink’s tall label. They use a 20 oz. amber colored bottled, which serves the dual purpose of blocking light and making the product look more like a tea beverage. Still, we’d like to see a less busy label, especially since finding the flavor and purpose of the drink are rather hard with the current placement of graphic elements and text. Reviewed on: 7/1/2009

Product Type:Tea: Alternative; Container: 20 oz PET
BevNET Review: From a flavor point of view, this is a surprisingly well executed mixture, with a decent dose of tea and yumberry flavor (with 1 percent juice) that’s been paired with a light amount of sweetener and Poland Spring Water. The “tea water” aspect of the product seems to mean that the drink’s flavoring has been diluted in a larger volume of water than one of their RTD tea drinks – and we think that’s going to take some convincing as far as the consumer is concerned. Further on that, there’s the use of the Poland Spring brand name, which certainly adds some brand equity, but also seems to be cluttering what the brand is all about. Specifically, the quality of the water inside RTD beverages is something that’s never questioned, so the addition of Poland Spring is addressing something that is simply a non issue to the consumer. The execution of the label design could be improved so that the two brand names don’t feel as slapped on as they do right now. In addition, moving the AriZona Tea Water logo off of the large purple and gray flower would help the eye make sense of this label. Overall, the flavor is good and the concept seems viable, but the way that the two brands have been incorporated into this product could use some work. Reviewed on: 7/1/2009