Beverage of the Week: Lipton's Hard Iced Teas are so much better than dropping vodka in a can of Brisk

Welcome back to FTW’s Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage (or food) that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey.

I didn’t think the hard tea craze was going to last. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t on board, just that it seemed destined to recede after a big 2023 push that made Twisted Tea the White Claw of its field, chased by competitors.

And like White Claw to hard seltzers, the standby has since been outshone by newer brands. Twisted Tea remains the first brand that likely pops into your head when you think spiked tea, but it’s far from the best. The expansion of big brands and smaller ones into the field forced stores to expand their shelf space, giving credence to established labels like High Noon or newer ones like Loverboy.

There’s been a little turnover when it comes to these malt beverages — Pabst’s efforts failed to pan out, even if they were pretty solid (same with its hard coffee, as a matter of fact) — but the trend continues this summer. Now, it’s pulled Lipton into a logical brand extension in the world of booze.

Lipton’s tea bags are everywhere. Their Brisk tea is vastly superior to Nestea and arguably the best canned tea widely available. The question is: could that translate to the world of neutral spirits? Or would Lipton fall into the Twisted Tea trap of a too-acidic, slightly gross hard tea?