Steaz Zero Calorie Iced Teaz

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 16 oz Can
BevNET Review: Of the flavors of Steaz’s Zero Calorie Iced Teaz that we sampled, the Citrus variety was our favorite in both flavor and appearance. Starting with the flavor, the citrus flavors, which seem to consist of lemon, lime, and orange, pair very nicely with the mellow base of green tea. Plus, it helps keep the stevia and erythritol sweeteners in check, limiting the aftertaste to a much more tolerable level than competing zero calorie teas. The fact that it’s natural and fair trade are pluses, but ultimately, we think that the flavor itself will be what consumers come back for. On the outside, the can is sleek and appealing, with hard to miss fruit images smack in the center of the front panel. They’ve placed “zero calorie” on the front in two places, so we don’t think that anyone will miss it. However, using the same white backdrop as their sugar sweetened offerings doesn’t seem like the ideal (or most original) choice. Nit picking aside, we really enjoyed this product – it’s the best of the bunch.Reviewed on: 2/11/2011

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 16 oz Can
BevNET Review: Sweetened with stevia and erythritol, the Half & Half variety of Steaz’s Zero Calorie Iced Teaz is a very pleasant tasting product. Both the tea and lemonade flavors are rather mild, which makes the drink more like lemon flavored teathan what would typically qualify as half and half. However, the combination has been blended well, with just the right amount of lemon flavor to complement the delicatebase of green tea. Plus, most half and halfs typically have at least some lemon juice in their formulation. This one does not. The sweetener blend works nicely, delivering a modest amount of sweetness and only the slightest bit of aftertaste. On the outside, this product has a 16 ounce tall can that fits in with the rest of the Steaz Iced Teaz line. Unlike the other varieties, which use images of fruit, Half & Half relies exclusively on text. For us, that reduces the visual appeal ofthis flavor and makes the packaging feel business and almost overwhelming with the amount of text that is on it. Overall, we like the taste, but calling this Half & Half doesn’t seem like the right move for this product.Reviewed on: 2/11/2011

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 16 oz Can
BevNET Review: The Peach Mango variety of Steaz’s Zero Calorie Iced Teaz lineup is a pretty strong offering, starting with the very drinkable base of green tea. On top of that, they’ve added peach and mango flavoring, which is both accurate and natural tasting. They’ve sweetened the drink with erythritol and stevia, which produces a fairly decent level of sweetness while allowing the drink to be labeled as all natural (and, more importantly, get into chains like Whole Foods). In the case of this particular flavor, there’s a fair amount of aftertaste that hits your tongue, although it’s still a step above other brands aspartame or sucralose sweetened products. The drink is, like the other Steaz Iced Teaz, packaged in a 16 ounce can. There’s a lot of text on the can (too much, we think), but the overall visual concept and execution is clean and appealing. Simplifying things would certainly help, but we still like where the product stands today. Overall, enjoyable flavor, especially when compared to other diet iced teas that are on the market today.Reviewed on: 2/11/2011

Product Type:Tea: Sweetened; Container: 16 oz Can
BevNET Review: While there are a lot of things that we like about this product (natural formulation, Fair Trade certification, enjoyable tea flavor), the raspberry flavor falls flat compared with the fruit flavors that are in the other varieties. Specifically, this one has a rather bitter fruit flavor, which only accentuates the bitterness of the sweetener (stevia and erythritol) aftertaste. Until then, we’ll stick with one of the other flavors.Reviewed on: 2/11/2011