Joy Milk Tea is a line of ready-to-drink milk tea beverages that are marketed as being as strong as coffee but without the side effects. The dairy-based product is presently being offered in a single 11 oz SKU named “Black No. 1.”

The product has a simple list of ingredients including brewed black tea, milk, cane sugar and acacia gum. It has 160 calories and 15 grams of added sugar along with 4.5g of fat (from the milk). When it comes to functionality, Joy Milk Tea has 130mg of caffeine as well as L-theanine, naturally occuring in black tea.

Inside the can you’ll find that the flavor of Joy Milk Tea is very straightforward and true to its ingredients. It literally tastes like a blend of black tea, milk, and sugar; the result is bold but smooth, and with a rich and creamy body from the added milk. It’s definitely on the sweeter side of things, but that’s clearly what they are going for. 

While it’s slightly too sweet on our palate to be a daily drink, Joy certainly feels like a great product to add to the mix for when we are looking for something that offers a different play on familiar ingredients. As a result, it should not require much in the way of consumer education, which is always a good thing. The liquid is definitely top notch and provides a unique and memorable take on an RTD tea. 

Beyond the sugar content, we do think that it will be important for Joy Milk Tea to have a dairy free SKU in the lineup. Their original product in glass bottles which was the predecessor to this more commercially viable can-based offering, did feature a second SKU with almond milk and we hope that this on the docket to be a part of this line. Going it just with this single SKU will be challenging in the mid to long term.

Moving on to the branding and package design, Joy Milk Tea’s package is cleanly designed and, thanks to the way that the logo is the only thing on the top half of the can, catches the eye. Plus, the name is clever -- literally speaking to an emotion that you’ll have while drinking the product. 

The lower half of the can, which has a large black stripe where the main label copy lives, features the SKU name, copy that describes the product as “floral with a hint of caramel and dates,” and a mention of the drink’s primary two ingredients: black tea and whole milk. While quickly scanning the label, the caramel and dates comment made us wonder if they are ingredients in the drink, but we do appreciate the simplicity of this label copy. 

In the end, we think that Joy Milk Tea’s flagship SKU definitely can serve as a solid foundation for the brand to build from. The product is really tasty and well executed and we think that the branding and positioning should help it both stand out and build a base of repeat customers.