Weird Tea is the first product line from Weird Beverages, the company that was recently launched by a trio of Rockstar alumns. The USDA Organic product line pairs mainstream flavor with fun and engaging branding to create something with potentially broad appeal.

The lineup has four 16 ounce SKUs at launch, including White Peach Oolong, Passion Fruit Black Tea, Moroccan Mint Green Tea and Chamomile Hemp Hibiscus Tea. The first three flavors have 55mg of caffeine per can, while the final one is caffeine free. 

The formulations are made with brewed tea, with each SKU having a slightly different brew at its base. Juice (20% per can) has been added to each of the flavors as well, which seems to serve as both a flavoring agent, sweetener (along with added cane sugar), and perhaps also to help acidify the drink. 

There’s a range of sweetness across the four flavors, which ultimately results in products that range from 40 to 90 calories and 10 to 23 grams of sugar per 16 ounce can. The sweetest SKU is the White Peach Oolong, which is a straightforward product that should taste familiar to anyone who has consumed a bottle of peach flavored tea. Passion Fruit Black Tea, which tastes like a riff on a raspberry iced tea, is slightly less sweet (60 calories / 15g sugar) The final two, Morrocan Mint Green Tea and Chamomile Hemp Hibiscus Tea, are the lightest and most tea-forward of the lineup.

These four products are really enjoyable and, when it comes to the less sweet flavors, very crushable. Our only constructive criticism is around the use of hemp in  Chamomile Hemp Hibiscus Tea, which doesn’t seem to add much to the flavor and, given that they don’t appear to be trying to play the CBD game, might stand to confuse consumers. 

Finally, there’s the branding and design. The cans utilize a shrink sleeve label that features bright colors and illustrated graphics. This starts with the Weird Tea logo, which is a circle filled with a tea bag character that is wearing sunglasses. It definitely catches the eye and is the only thing that really feels “weird” about what they’ve created. 

Below the logo, you’ll find two lines of text that state the flavor and the type of tea that’s used, e.g. “Passion Fruit” and “Black Tea.” These two lines serve as both the description of the product and the name of the SKU -- a very straightforward and matter of fact approach. Finally, at the bottom you’ll find the USDA Organic logo.

Turning the can around to the back, you’ll find “THE WORLD IS WEIRD” running vertically from bottom to top in a font that’s reminiscent of Jolt Cola. In addition, there are icons with some of the drink’s core benefits -- things like antioxidants, energy, fruit juice, and the products lack of colorings and preservatives. 

Regardless of it being literally weird or not, the package does a succinct and effective job of both catching the eye and communicating what the product  is. Plus, we appreciate it’s not-so-serious approach, which is a nice contrast to some of the brands with whom Weird Tea is set to compete.

In the end, Weird Tea has successfully created something that feels like an updated (and USDA Organic) version of a classic ready-to-drink sweetened tea. It feels ripe for prime time out of the gate, both because of its solid execution and the fact that these products will require zero consumer education. Definitely a nice start for Weird Beverages.