Wize Tea

by Wize Tea Inc.

Review: Wize Coffee Leaf Tea

Posted: Apr 06, 2021 at 11:21 AM (Last Updated: Apr 06, 2021 at 11:33 AM)
Wize Coffee Leaf Tea

Covers Products: Fresh Mango Ice Tea, Ruby Red Grapefruit Ice Tea, Zesty Lemon Ice Tea

Launched in 2020, Wize Coffee Leaf is a product that positions itself as a better for you tea that’s both low in sugar and lightly caffeinated. The RTD line is available in three flavors, including Lemon, Mango and Grapefruit.

As the name suggests, this product is made with steeped coffee leaves rather than tea. From there, they add 1 gram of sugar, a touch of lemon juice and natural flavors or extracts. The products have 10 calories and 35mg of caffeine per 12 oz. slim can. 

When it comes to taste, all three of these products are easy to drink. The base flavor is slightly earthy but smooth, similar to a slightly less tannic black tea. Elsewhere, the fruit flavors are simple and straightforward with a smooth finish. We found ourselves being most partial to Lemon, which has a leg up since it doesn’t use flavorings and because it’s a riff on the most popular iced tea flavor. 

On the packaging front, the product uses a slim can with a shrink sleeve label that has a matte finish. The Wize logo, which takes up the upper half of the can and utilizes a background color that is unique to each flavor, features an icon with two leaves above what looks like a coffee cup, designed to look like a face while “Wize Coffee Leaf” sits below.  The bottom half has a fruit image, the flavor name, the words “iced tea,” and a few icons to call out the sugar, calories, and carbs. 

The back of the can features a callout for the caffeine content and a secondary callout for the drink’s low sugar.  In addition, this is where they explain what coffee leaves are as well as describe the benefits of the ingredient both as an upcycled product and as something that is high in antioxidants. 

From our perspective, the framework for the design is fine: it’s eye catching, playful, and looks the part of a modern good-for-you beverage. But as with any product that’s using a by-product of coffee production, we think that there’s an uphill battle of getting the consumer to not think about coffee when they see this package. 

That being said, visually separating “coffee leaf” from “iced tea” is going to lead to some confusion. Unifying this into a single “coffee leaf tea” or “coffee leaf iced tea” would definitely help, but we think a bit more front label copy might be needed to convince a consumer to drink this over a classic tea-based drink. 

Overall, Wize has done a great job creating enjoyable tasting products that are low calorie, low in sugar, and full of flavor. With some additional work on the packaging and messaging, we think that these products should be in a good spot and could have broad appeal.


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