Harney & Sons RTD

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 16 oz bottle
BevNET Review: Harney & Sons has added the classic "half & half" mixture of tea and lemonade to its lineup. Unlike their previous efforts, which seem skewed more towards the unsweetened end of the spectrum, this entry is features 29g of sugar and 160 calories per 8 oz serving. The result is something that's sweet and full of citrus flavor, with only a mild note of tea to the finish. It's on par with other half & half entries, such as Sweet Leaf, with the major point of differentiation being the product's package design. It's attractive and certainly emits a super premium vibe, but placing the USDA Organic logo on the back (unlike most of the competition) might result in this product being passed over. Otherwise, we think the front panel is a bit cluttered, with visually competing text elements. Lastly, we think that they need to do something to differentiate the juice flavors from their tea products. Overall, a very enjoyable and high quality formulation (and it certainly could sell well on that alone), but something seems to be missing on the outside.Reviewed on: 7/2/2008

Product Type:Juice: Juice Drink; Container: 16 oz bottle
BevNET Review: We're scratching our head to figure out why a company that labels itself "master tea blenders" is introducing a cranberry drink, but we'll proceed anyway. First, the flavor. The organic mixture uses 15% juice consisting of cranberry, apple, and hibiscus and is sweetened with organic cane sugar. While the addition of hibiscus and an organic formulation are novel ideas, the execution of this drink leaves the product with a rather watered down taste. In addition, the hibiscus seems to give the drink a finish that tastes a bit off. Like the other Harney & Sons products, this one feels like it should be a super premium product, but the connection between the tea maker and a juice line isn't clear. Plus -- and perhaps most importantly -- where tea products can sell without images of tea leaves on the label few juice products sell well without images of fruit on the label. Again, as mentioned in the Lemonade and Tea review, Harney & Sons should differentiate their juice line from their tea line -- and this would be a great way to do it.Reviewed on: 7/2/2008

Product Type:Juice: Juice Drink; Container: 16 oz bottle
BevNET Review: Again, we simply don't understand why Harney & Sons is producing something as pedestrian as apple juice. Last time we checked, the market for organic juice was pretty crowded -- and we're not really what Harney has done to differentiate. Don't get us wrong, the product tastes good, but it's certainly not the best tasting drink out there. Reviewed on: 7/2/2008

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 16 oz bottle
BevNET Review: The flavor of Organic Big Berry & Tea is, as the name suggests, a berry flavored tea mixture which, despite packing a fair amount of calories and sugar, has a relatively mild level of sweetness. The "big berry" alludes to the use of several berry juices and flavors, including raspberry and blackberry, but unfortunately it doesn't taste overly natural. In addition, the name "Big Berry" sounds like something you'd find on a low end juice product -- not a premium organic product. The bigger problem though is that the berry flavor completely washes away the tea, which is what supposedly makes Harney & Sons stand out from the pack. Finally, the front label lacks in terms of readability and ability to whet the appetite. Cleaning this up and adding some more appealing juice oriented graphics would be a great way to improve this product on the outside. On the inside, we'd like to have a more discernable berry (or perhaps hibiscus) flavor, even if that means nixing the use of multiple berry flavors. Reviewed on: 7/2/2008