Best supermarket ice teas

Our Favorites for Flavor
While few of these were not our cup of, um, tea (most just tasted either two chemically "lemon" or were way too sweet), there were three brands that we'd let pass our lips again.

#1 Honest Tea Organic Lemon Black Tea
Nutrition: One serving (8 fluid ounces) = 40 calories, 0g total fat, 5mg sodium, 10g carbs, 10g sugars, 0g protein
Ingredients: Purified water, organic cane sugar, Fair Trade Certified organic black tea, organic lemon juice concentrate, organic lemon extract, citric acid
Cost: $1.99 for a 16-oz bottle at the Food Emporium in New York City
Blind Tasting Notes: "I might actually drink this. Tastes like actual tea and lemon"; "You can taste the tea in this one, and it's not too sweet"; "Tea!"

#2 Lipton Pureleaf Lemon Iced Tea
Nutrition: One serving (8 fluid ounces) = 70 calories, 0g total fat, 0mg sodium, 18g carbs, 18g sugars, 0g protein
Ingredients: Sugar, citric acid (provides tartness), natural apple extract (color), natural flavor, pectin
Cost: $1.99 for a 16-oz bottle at the Food Emporium in New York City
Blind Tasting Notes: "Not too sweet, which is a plus, but there is an off lemon flavor"; "More natural tasting"; "Actually tastes like tea"; "Flowery"; "Weird aftertaste"

#3 Arizona Lemon Iced Tea
Nutrition: One serving (8 fluid ounces) = 90 calories, 0g total fat, 10mg sodium, 25g carbs, 24g sugars, 0g protein
Ingredients: Filtered water, high fructose corn syrup (glucose-fructose syrup), citric acid, natural lemon flavor
Cost: $0.99 for a 23-oz can at Duane Reade in New York City
Blind Tasting Notes:"Not terrible. Tastes like sweetened black tea, but with bad fake lemon"; "Pleasant, not unbearably sweet"; "Lemony and relatively inoffensive"


Nutritionist Marissa Lippert's Picks
Some comments from Lippert: "I automatically tossed out any tea that contained high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners. After that, I went with Honest Tea Organic Lemon Black Tea as my top pick given that its sugar content was lower than all others and it's just 40 calories per 8-ounce serving, as opposed to the 70 calories per 8-ounce serving of my #2 and #3 picks. There is a bonus with Sweet Leaf, though: It gices you your daily dose of vitamin C. Something to keep in mind is that most bottled teas are 16 ounces and have 2 servings, averaging about 140-150 calories per bottle. With that comes about 8 or 9 teaspoons of added sugar. If your tea has got to be bottled and you're aiming to keep extra beverage calories in check, look for lower sugar or unsweetened teas on grocery store shelves."


#1 Honest Tea Organic Lemon Black Tea
Nutrition: One serving (8 fluid ounces) = 40 calories, 0g total fat, 5mg sodium, 10g carbs, 10g sugars, 0g protein
Ingredients: Purified water, organic cane sugar, Fair Trade Certified organic black tea, organic lemon juice concentrate, organic lemon extract, citric acid
Cost: $1.99 for a 16-oz bottle at the Food Emporium in New York City
Our assessment: Hooray! This ranked first for flavor!

#2 Sweet Leaf Organic Lemon Iced Tea
Nutrition: One serving (8 fluid ounces) = 70 calories, 0g total fat, 0 mg sodium, 19 g carbs, 18g sugars, 0g protein, 100% daily value vitamin C
Ingredients: Filtered water, organic cane sugar, organic black tea, natural flavor, citric acid, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)
Cost: $1.99 for 16-oz bottle at the Food Emporium in New York City
Our assessment: Our tasters ranked in fourth, so it fared pretty well. People found it "refreshing" but some thought it was too sweet and almost "sour."

#3 Lipton Pureleaf Lemon Iced Tea
Nutrition: One serving (8 fluid ounces) = 70 calories, 0g total fat, 0mg sodium, 18g carbs, 18g sugars, 0g protein
Ingredients: Sugar, citric acid (provides tartness), natural apple extract (color), natural flavor, pectin
Cost: $1.99 for a 16-oz bottle at the Food Emporium in New York City
Our assessment: This ranked second for flavor!

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