Steaz Organic Iced Teaz

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 16 oz. can
BevNET Review: Steaz's Black Tea with Lemon is an enjoyable mixture of black tea, lemon juice, and sugar (evaporated cane juice). It's lightly flavored compared to other can-based tea brands, with a mellow note of tea giving way to light notes of sweetness and lemon. Again, our only concern is the impact of the can on the flavor, which gives the product a slightly “flat” feeling in your mouth. We’ve always liked this product’s package from a conceptual point of view, but the most recent version has a noticeably better appearance. This is due to moving around the elements so that your eye goes right to the center, with the lemon images and easy to read text making this product unmistakable for anything but tea with lemon. Overall, a very well executed product that, with its updated can design, has the full package.

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 16 oz. can
BevNET Review: Green Tea with Peach is, even after a packaging update, our favorite flavor of Steaz's Iced Teaz lineup. Like the other flavors, it is USDA Organic and Fair Trade certified and features only 5 ingredients (water, evaporated cane juice, lemon juice, natural flavors, and tea). The flavor is straightforward, delivering a light peach flavor that's followed with a mellow base of tea that's lightly sweetened and has a hint of lemon to the finish. Unlike some of the other flavors, this one has a tea flavor that's more easily distinguished from the mix. On the packaging front, the revision, which makes the peach image the emphasis and moves the farmer image to the bottom, is a huge improvement. It’s instantly understandable and very pleasing to the senses. Overall, this is our favorite of the brand -- definitely a winner.

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 16 oz. can
BevNET Review: This was our second favorite flavor of the Iced Teaz line. White tea is a flavor that's naturally light, so using it in this format is a pretty safe -- and marketable -- move. The addition of lime and pomegranate gives the product an enjoyable fruit taste to the finish, but the fact that it's from flavorings instead of juice or extracts might be a turn off to some. On to the packaging. This product’s can has a much cleaner front panel than it used to, starting with a smaller tea farmer graphic. This lets your eye go directly to the fruit graphics and easy to read text. However, they should get the words “white tea” on the same line as the flavor name as otherwise, your eye has to search to figure out what type of tea they’ve used. Also, they’ve moved the USDA Organic and Fair Trade logos off to the side, which seems like a smart move. Overall, we still love the flavor and the improved packaging is a step forward.

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 16 oz. can
BevNET Review: Steaz has been doing green tea for a while, so we figured this would be a good flavor to start with. Using a mixture of green tea, lemon juice, evaporated cane juice, and natural flavors (for the mint), this variety has a very pleasant flavor -- and only 80 calories per 16 oz. can. We enjoyed the green tea flavor and the touch of sweetness, but the mint and lemon flavors provide only a faint note at the finish. It wouldn't be a bad thing if they increased the mint just a bit. Otherwise, the only negative is the impact of the can on the flavor, which seems to be an issue for any tea product that uses this packaging format. Packaging is vibrant and unique, using a can size and shape that's generally reserved for energy drinks; it says "premium" as best you can with a can, and it's helped through the use of USDA Organic and Fair Trade logos. The second version of the can’s design is a big improvement over the original, with the farmer image made smaller and a vibrant image of mint leaves placed right in the middle of the can. Overall, a very enjoyable product that has much improved packaging.

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 16 oz. can
BevNET Review: Steaz's Organic Iced Teaz with Blueberry Pomegranate Acai has a pleasant but mild acai flavor to it (acai sourced by Sambazon), which is really what makes this drink. Specifically, it is this fruit flavor that's the focal point of the formulation. Otherwise, we detect only a mild tea flavor, which we'd certainly enjoy more if it had a stronger body. The drink is moderately sweet and, when factoring in the 16 oz. can, seems more like an effort to offer an upscale alternative to the mainstream brands as opposed to creating an alternative to the super premium types that are in glass or plastic. Looking at it from that point of view, we think that Steaz has come up with something that's unique and enjoyable, with a package design and format that will certainly stand out. And, in the most recent packaging effort, the can design definitely whets the appetite quite a bit. Again, our only suggestion is the placement of the drink's flavor, which, despite the visual overhaul, still wraps two lines. Otherwise, a very enjoyable product.

Product Type:Tea: Unsweetened; Container: 16 oz. can
BevNET Review: While we realize the need for sugar and calorie free flavors, this was our least-favorite tasting variety of the brand. It's not because the drink lacks sugar, but because the added lemon juice overpowers the rest of the flavors in the drink. Really, the drink just needs more tea flavor to offset things and this could be very enjoyable. On the other hand, we like the organization of Unsweetened Green Tea with Lemon's front panel over the front panel design of the other varieties. Specifically, they’ve put a box around the flavor name, making it easy to figure out which text is most important. This visual accent makes the eye go directly to the right place, which is definitely a plus. Overall, it’s good, but definitely not the best of the lineup.