As we've noted in previous reviews, this brand out of New Jersey features great thematic packaging in 16 oz. glass bottles, harkening back to nostalgia on the beach. Plus, this stuff's got cane sugar!

Pop the cap and you are greeted with a strong black tea scent, with just a hint of fruitiness. The tea itself is darker in color, with a murky brown shade typically associated with bottled teas. There is some sediment floating around, which is why the label notes to "shake before opening."

Initial sip is quite sweet, with a hint of the peach flavor. The flavor builds and combines with the black tea flavor, flowing into the aftertaste. The drink itself is both packed with flavor and feels somewhat watery at the same time. Still, there's a robustness and authenticity to the blend (unlike, say, recent politically-oriented teas that have appeared in the marketplace). Just take a look at the ingredients!

That said, I'm not a huge fan of peach-flavored teas (though I really love MaryAnna's take on the raspberry flavor), so I can't say this is my favorite taste. That said, it's a quality tea blend that feels "premium" in many respects and fits along nicely with the rest of the product line. Good stuff!

MaryAnna's Peachy Sweet Tea
Filtered water, pure cane sugar, 100% lemon juice, India black tea leaves, peach pieces, marigolds, natural peach flavor

A 16 oz bottle contains 160 calories, 10 mg sodium, and 38 g carbs (38 g sugars).

Official Website: MaryAnnasTea.com

We don't discuss political parties here on BevReview; we'll let other folks tackle that. However when BevReview reader (and Rush Limbaugh fan) Karl Bastian ordered a couple cases of Two If By Tea for us, noting that we "have to try this stuff," well, I guess we have to maintain our civic duty.

Per the official website, the name Two If By Tea "is a modern twist on the famous line 'one if by land, and two if by sea' in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, 'Paul Revere's Ride.' According to the oft-quoted poem, on April 18, 1775 Paul Revere rode into the Massachusetts countryside warning of the imminent invasion of British 'Regulars' bent on destroying the American spirit."

So either this tea is here to save the American spirit or Limbaugh just needed an opportunity to brand something with his likeness. You decide.

We sampled the two main flavors, Original Sweet Tea and Raspberry Tea. These are also available in diet versions, sweetened by the combination of sucralose and acesulfame potassium (Ace-K); we did not review the diet options, thus we cannot comment on Two If By Tea's claim that "you don't have to put up with an artificial chemical aftertaste found in many other beverages."

Both flavors come packaged in 16 oz plastic bottles that have a medium-sized neck topped off by a white twist off cap. The label design features blue or red color schemes, depending on flavor. Anchoring the look under the "Two If By Tea" name is a caricature of Rush Limbaugh dressed up like Paul Revere. The backside of the label talks about the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, which receives donations from this tea brand.

Let's jump into the flavor of Two If By Tea Original Sweet Tea. Now, we've reviewed quite a few sweet teas over the years, so our benchmarks are pretty well established. This tea is lighter in color than most sweet teas we've seen. Interestingly, the scent was rather faint upon opening the bottle.

As for the taste, it's not quite what I expected. When a product labels itself as "Sweet Tea," you expect it to be quite sweet and somewhat smooth. Two If By Tea's version had some sweetness, but seemed instead to rely on the black tea flavor as its primary attribute. That's the flavor that first greets you, followed by the more traditional sweet tea taste followup. The aftertaste is clean, which can probably be attributed to the use of sugar. It's not a bad product, but as far as sweet teas go, there are better versions out there, such as MaryAnna's Summer Sweet Tea. I just find it baffling that the marketing text for their Original Sweet Tea flavor actually states the following: "It's a traditional black tea that is not too bitter and not too sweet." A sweet tea that's not sweet?

Two If By Tea Original Sweet Tea
Water, sugar, natural tea essence, natural flavors, black tea, phosphoric acid

A 16 oz bottle contains 120 calories, 10 mg sodium, and 30 g carbs (30 g sugars).

The other primary flavor from Two If By Tea is their Raspberry Tea. It's roughly the same lighter color that we found with the Original Sweet Tea flavor. Crack the cap off and you do smell a bit of berry infusion. As far as flavor profile, it's quite a bit different. It starts out rather "blah," but crisp, with a limited tea flavor in place. Then at the back of your throat, the raspberry taste kicks in and resides through the aftertaste. It's not super sweet, and the tea flavor definitely backs off of the black tea-ness, feeling more like a casual tea product. This product is also sweetened with sugar, so the initial flavors are quite crisp, but an artificial-tasting raspberry flavor lingers after swallowing.

Two If By Tea Raspberry Tea
Water, sugar, natural flavors, citric acid, black tea,

A 16 oz bottle contains 120 calories, 10 mg sodium, and 40 g carbs (40 g sugars).

Currently, Two If By Tea is only available online via their official website. Products are ordered in 12 bottle cases with free shipping. Upon receiving my package from the company, I found that it featured groupings of 6 bottles shrinkwrapped together. The packaging process seemed to be a little rough and too tight, as many bottles were permanently "dented" from being crushed next to each other. Also, one of the caps on the Sweet Tea package arrived lose, meaning that tea had spilled all over the other bottles that were wrapped together with it. A very sticky situation!

So what's the final vote? Two If By Tea is an average tea brand. If it didn't have the marketing push of Rush Limbaugh attached, it would struggle to be noticed. The package design, from the plastic bottle to the hard-to-read labeling feels more "cheap" than special, along the lines of the plastic bottle Snapple line, even with a price-per-bottle of close to $2. With an average flavor profile, value shoppers would be better off tracking down one of the many $1 Arizona or Peace Tea flavors; you'll get more options, better flavor, and a lot more beverage (granted, with high fructose corn syrup). Those looking for more distinctive tea flavor will probably still hit up their Whole Foods for higher end offerings from Honest Tea, Numi, or Sweet Leaf.

It's just hard to figure out exactly where Two If By Tea falls. It tries to seem special, but it just isn't. It's a decent-tasting tea line, but it's oddly classified. It's a product aimed more to the likes of politically savvy customers, not beverage enthusiasts.

Official Website: TwoIfByTea.com

First off, I have to disclose that I'm a huge fan of The Amazing Race, having watched since Season 1, Episode 1. And while recent seasons have been less than stellar, it's still fun to watch teams of people race around the world for a bunch of money. The Race has always had product placement, some good (Travelocity), some bad (AOL), some just awkward (Star Wars). The March 27 episode took place in both China and India, featuring "tea sampling" as one of the tasks. At the end of the episode, teams were given Snapple Papaya Mango Tea… and pretended to enjoy it.

But enough about the show itself, let's take a look at the drink. Available for a limited time in both regular and diet, Papaya Mango Tea comes emblazoned with The Amazing Race logo and globe outline. Above the Snapple name itself is a artistic pattern that seems to reference Indian cultural art.

On back we find the CBS logo and trademark notes, along with this little blurb:

When The Amazing Race told us they were going to India we thought, "Brilliant! India is steeped in rich tea tradition that is over 2000 years old! We should make a special, limited time only flavor inspired by India!" So we did. And we think it will be one heck of a race to see who can snatch up this exotic blend of papaya and mango flavors while supplies last. Congratulations. It looks like you're one of the lucky ones.

Um, OK.

Upon popping open the cap, you are definitely greeted by a strong blend of mango and papaya scents… with just a hint of tea. The color of this drink is a cloudy brown, not super dark, but about what you'd expect from something branded as an iced tea.

As for the flavor itself, it's quite sweet and heavy on the tropical fruits. The papaya, in particular, starts out quite strong, eventually being diluted as the drink progresses into more of a straight-on tea aftertaste. While probably appealing best to the peach/tropical fruit crowd, to be honest, the taste was quite good! It's a very sweet flavor, but not syrupy at all. Clean, exotic, fun!

What's inside? The ingredients include:

Snapple Papaya Mango Tea
Filtered water, sugar, citric acid, tea, natural flavors

A 16 oz bottle packs 150 calories, 10 mg of sodium, 37 g carbs, and 36 g sugars.

In my last review, I looked at Adina Holistics Cranberry Grapefruit with Goji. Continuing in this line of drinks that combines tea, fruit flavor, and herbal extracts, today I look at Adina Holistics Pomegranate Acai with Yumberry.

As I previously mentioned, these drinks come in an attractive 14 oz. bottle, and I love the oversized bottle opening, which allows one to guzzle this sweet nectar, or just get more liquid in your mouth; I've heard it both ways.

As far as the health specs, very interestingly this variety provides the exact same herbal mixture as the Cranberry Grapefruit variety: 533 mg of herbal infusion, all organic: American Ginseng Root Extract, Gotu Kola Extract, Astragalus Root Extract, White Tea Extract, Tulsi Leaf Extract, and Eleuthero Root Extract (Although I don't mention them here, the amounts of each are identical to Cranberry Grapefruit). Again, it would seem that the primary purpose of the drink seems to focus on both energy and bodily immunity. And like all varieties of Adina I have reviewed thus far, the bottle contains 110 Calories, and 26 grams of sugar, with negligible sodium (two varieties have 5 mg and one has 10 mg).

The actual ingredient list is as follows, with asterisked items denoted as fair trade certified, which may appeal to those with particular social consciousness. Additionally, this variety is both USDA Certified Organic and gluten free. And if you needed to work on your Latin, this ingredient list also supports that function:

Organic Brewed Tea (Water, Organic White Tea Extract*), Organic Sugar*, Natural Pomegranate Acai Flavor with other Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Grape Juice Concentrate (Color), Organic Purple Carrot Juice Concentrate (Color), Organic Pomegranate Juice Concentrate, Elderberry Extract Concentrate (Color), Organic Acai Clarified Extract, Organic Blueberry Juice Concentrate, Tartaric Acid, Organic Yumberry Juice Concentrate, Organic American Ginseng (Panax Quinquefolius) Root Extractives, Organic Gotu Kola (Centella Asiatica) Extractives, Organic Astragalus Membranaceus Root Extractives, Organic Tulsi (Ocimum Sanctum) Leaf Extractives, Organic Eleutherococcus Senticosus Root Extractives

As far as the actual drink goes, there seems to be a little sediment as with the other varieties, but it is harder to see with the darker drink shade. The color has an inviting cran-grape look, with the promise of a fruity finish. Upon opening the bottle, I smell a fruity aroma, sort of like a botanical fruit drink, which of course this is. The taste is also fruity, but not overly strong. It has kind of a raspberry lemonade flavor to it, or some similar fruit flavored lemonade. It is fairly clean, although I can still sense a slightly bitter aftertaste, again, most likely the herbal infusion. I think it is a sweeter flavor than the other two and probably my favorite of the three reviewed so far.

The cap states "Never stand between a dog and a tree." This is sage advice indeed. Comparing the three Adina drinks I have reviewed thus far, this one is my favorite. It finishes cleaner, most likely because it has more of a fruity taste and this masks the herbal additions better than the other varieties. Of course all of this is a matter of preference, but the many juices that make up this variety do combine for a better taste than previous varieties. I really do think I can taste the blueberry juice in there, which enhances the beverage as a whole. If you like fruit drinks and want the health benefits, Pomegranate Acai is the variety for you.

Official Website: AdinaWorld.com

In my last review, I looked at Adina Holistics Mango Orange with Chamomile. Continuing in this line of drinks that combines tea, fruit flavor, and herbal extracts, such as Jade Green Tea and Coconut Guava, today I look at Adina Holistics Cranberry Grapefruit with Goji.

As I previously mentioned, these drinks come in an attractive 14 oz bottle, and I love the oversize bottle opening, which allows a stream of flavor to burst forth on one's tongue. Overkill on the metaphor? Yeah, I think so too, but that said, it is a great perk.

Moving onward to the ingredients, this variety provides a plethora of herbal benefits, 533 mg to be exact (as opposed to the 369 mg in the Orange Mango). All organic, this flavor includes: American Ginseng Root Extract, Gotu Kola Extract, Astragalus Root Extract, White Tea Extract, Tulsi Leaf Extract, and Eleuthero Root Extract. One might gather from this list that the primary purpose of the drink seems to focus on both energy and bodily immunity. The bottle contains 110 Calories, and 26 grams of sugar, with negligible sodium.

The actual ingredient list is as follows, with asterisked items denoted as fair trade certified, which may appeal to those with particular social consciousness. Additionally, this variety is both USDA Certified Organic and gluten free. And if you needed to work on your Latin, this ingredient list also supports that function:

Organic Brewed Tea (Water, Organic White Tea Extract*), Organic Sugar*, Natural Grapefruit Cranberry Goji Flavor with other Natural Flavors, Organic Purple Carrot Juice Concentrate (Color), Citric Acid, Pectin, Xanthan Gum, DL-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Retinol Palmitate (Source of Vitamin A), Organic American Ginseng (Panax Quinquefolius) Root Extractives, Organic Gotu Kola (Centella Asiatica) Extractives, Organic Astragalus Membranaceus Root Extractives, Organic Tulsi (Ocimum Sanctum) Leaf Extractives, Organic Eleutherococcus Senticosus Root Extractives

Now, for the actual drink: I see a bit of sediment as I did in my previous review, so I recommend shaking the bottle to be on the safe side. When I open the bottle I see a dark pink liquid, kind of the color of a dark raspberry lemonade. The smell is also that of a robust raspberry lemonade, which has me very excited about actually tasting the beverage. I can only assume it is the grapefruit and that the color is giving me the impression of this potential taste.

As I actually taste it, I am struck by the fruity flavor and the distinct presence of the organic sugar. It is fairly clean and tastes somewhat like a flavored lemonade, but has the slightly bitter aftertaste of grapefruit and what I assume is the herbal concoction. Upon further review, the long term aftertaste must be the herbals. The liquid is very fluid in consistency, with the fruity-herbal mix that I'm finding in both the Adina drinks I've tasted. Again, the aftertaste is distinctly apparent, but the initial flavor of the drink could almost pass for a pink lemonade. As with the orange mango, it is a fairly refreshing taste, but in this case there is a divide between initial flavor and aftertaste.

Last time there was a saying inside the cap, but this time it is just an Adina monkey head that says "Show me the monkey." This is a cute addition to the overall experience.

As I stated in my last review, overall I love the presentation and the ingredients. The taste of the cranberry grapefruit is more mainstream than that of the orange mango, and I would view that as a positive, as I believe a wider audience would enjoy this beverage.

This flavor might go well with some foods, but the aftertaste is the make or break factor in deciding with what to combine this drink food-wise. The presence of the flavor of the herbal extracts in the drink will both attract some to this flavor and keep others away. I am fairly happy with it overall and to my personal taste, I think it is better than the mango orange. However, I must admit, the aftertaste keeps the decision whether to drink the cranberry grapefruit in the realm of health benefits first, taste second.

Official Website: AdinaWorld.com

I can't think of a better way to kick off my reviews here than to start with Honest Tea Organic Peach White Tea. This is part of a new 500 mL product line that debuted last summer. Packaged in a PETE bottle that the company claims is more environmentally friendly, the entire line is very drinkable, especially on a hot summer day. I'm quite the fan, and the Organic Peach White Tea, in my opinion, is one of the flagship flavors.

I'm usually not in favor of highly-sweetened teas, and the less processed it is, the better. So I liked that Honest Tea made this line "a tad sweet" as the tagline on the label says. This one has 10 grams of sugar per 8 ounce serving. I probably could have done with less, but the use of cane sugar instead of HFCS makes the sweetness smoother on my palate than the cloying taste of an HFCS-sweetened beverage.

You can taste the tea here – reminds me of a good oolong tea served in a Chinese restaurant – the peach flavor does not overwhelm the tea flavor. There is a nice balance between the two. Like several of the other flavors in this line, I like that you can see tea precipitate settle at the bottom of the bottle, showing that this tea was not made with some type of concentrate or other artificial substance. The fact that it has an USDA organic seal also reassures me that I am drinking a quality product.

Some notes on the label: I like how the company shows how much EGCG (a super-antioxidant) is present in the tea, as well as an indication of how much caffeine compared to coffee. One eighth for this product.

This is definitely one of my go-to teas right now!

Honest Tea Organic Peach White Tea
Purified water, organic cane sugar, Fair Trade Certified organic white tea, organic peach puree, natural peach flavor, and citric acid

A 16.9 oz bottle contains 85 calories, 10 mg sodium, 10 g carbs, and 10 g sugars.

Official Website: HonestTea.com

Are you looking for a fruity tea with health benefits? Well look no further. Adina provides just such a line of drinks that combine tea, fruit flavors and herbal extracts in their Holistics line of beverages. We've previously looked at their Jade Green Tea and Coconut Guava flavors. In this installment, I will review Adina Holistics Mango Orange with Chamomile.

Upon first glance the Holistics beverage line comes in attractive 14 oz bottles with a "happy monkey" logo and a prominent USDA Organic icon beneath. I am already predisposed to like this drink based on the aesthetics. In this particular bottle, the colors compliment the tinted orange color of the drink, and the glass bottle already scored brownie points with me. Built into the texture of the glass one sees a cursive "Adina" on both sides of the top of the bottle in a convex format, while "Drink No Evil" is found in a concave manner around the lower edge of both sides of the bottle. The cap is fairly large, indicating a large-mouth opening. I would estimate that it is about an inch in diameter, which should improve taste delivery.

As far as the ingredients go, this drink is more than just a pretty face. This herbal elixir contains 110 calories per bottle, 26 grams of sugar, and a trace amount of sodium. There is a 369 mg holistic herbal blend of lemongrass extract, lemon balm leaf extract, white tea extract, chamomile flower extract, and valerian root extract, all of them organic.

The actual ingredient list is as follows, with asterisked items denoted as fair trade certified, which may appeal to those with particular social consciousness.:

Organic Brewed Tea (Water, Organic White Tea Extract*), Organic Sugar*, Natural Mango Orange Flavor with Other Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Beta-Carotene, Retinol Palmitate, Organic Lemongrass Extractives, Organic Lemon Balm Leaf Extractives, Organic Chamomile Flower Extractives, Organic Valerian Root Extractives. 

Being that the drink is USDA certified organic, you know it has gone through a measure of testing. As an additional note, it is also certified gluten free, an important fact for many consumers.

Now, let's get to the actual drink. Although I don't see it on the bottle, I do recommend shaking the drink as some contents seem to settle. Opening the cap, I see what looks like a slightly darkened orange liquid, accompanied by a fruity, quite botanical aroma. In fact, the botanicals almost overpower the fruity scent. The taste is quite sweet, but clean, and has a mango-ey/orange flavor, but with an herbal, slightly medicinal aftertaste (although I don't mean that derogatorily).

There are multiple tastes at work, and seem to hit different taste buds in your mouth – remember those old diagrams in elementary school: salty, sweet, sour, bitter? I'm not saying it hits all of them, but there are definitely various flavors at work depending on the particular mouthful. I love the widemouth bottle, which allows you to really drink it down. The consistency is very clean and clear, no feel of sediment, and it is almost water-like in consistency; it is that clean.

As with some other brands of tea, there is a saying inside the cap, which they call "Herbalisms for Life." This particular saying states "He who laughs last, didn't get it." It also says "Namaste" at the bottom, which really appeals to me, being a huge LOST fan. Perhaps the Dharma Initiative did find work after the show ended.

Overall, I love the presentation and the ingredients. The drink itself is good, but I think more suited as a stand-alone drink or a thirst quencher. I think it would be tougher to pair it with foods, although with some thought, I'm sure I could come up with something appropriate. Adina has delivered a quality drink and the herbals in both the ingredient list and the taste make this a unique drink that will appeal to the health food crowd. As a stand-alone drink, I think this fits the bill.

Official Website: AdinaWorld.com

Brand: Lipton Brisk
Title: "Eninem"
Agency: Mekanism, San Francisco

PepsiCo's Lipton Brisk iced tea brand borrows on the stop-motion animation style they used a few years back… but this time, uses Eninem to anchor the spot.

Harney Tea has a reputation mostly in the "traditional" tea sense, i.e. loose teas you brew to appreciate. Their bottled tea lineup is substantially smaller, however it shouldn't be overlooked.

Harney & Sons Organic Peach Black Tea comes in a smooth, 16 oz. glass bottle covered in a "wrap" with a orange and yellow pattern that harkens back to Victorian-style wallpaper. A crest overlays this design with the name of the product and notes that this is "Invigorating Black Tea" and is both "Fresh" and "Ripe". Inside the twist-off cap I had to laugh at the printed statement: "Tea is good for you!"

The fragrance of tea and peach flows from the bottle upon opening the product, while the color is a light chocolate brown. As for the taste, it obviously tastes like tea, but it's light, with some of the harshness associated with tea softened by the peach flavor. You are greeted by a sweet taste initially that flattens out to a somewhat empty aftertaste.

I can't say that I'm totally in love with the flavor. More experienced tea connoisseurs probably would have their own opinion here, but I'm probably expecting a flavor that is sweeter and less on the black tea side of things. Then again, I'm probably not the target audience for this type of product! I will admit that the taste is very clean and crisp, which can probably be attributed to the use of cane sugar in the sweetening, what little there is. Black tea is often an acquired taste and I think that may be in play here.

Here's what's inside:

Harney & Sons Organic Peach Black Tea
Triple filtered water, contains less than 2% of organic cane sugar, organic honey, brewed from select organic black tea, natural flavor, ascorbic acid, citric acid, sodium citrate

The full 16 oz bottle of this tea contains 40 calories, 10 mg of sodium, and 10 g of carbs (of which 10 g are sugars). This tea is also certified USDA Organic.

If you enjoy bottled tea and especially black tea, then Harney & Sons Organic Peach Black Tea may be something to track down. The combination of sweet peach flavor and harsher black tea makes for an interesting battle in your mouth, but the clean taste refreshes no matter what!

This drink comes packaged in a tall 12 oz. call with an attractive package design, emphasized by a white and red color scheme. As with the others in this GABA line, I'm impressed by the look. There's quite a bit of text on the package, but it portrays the look/feel of a nutrient-oriented beverage.

The drink itself is light yellow in color, similar to a light tea or ginger ale. There's a faint grapefruit scent that emanates from the beverage. Overall, the feeling is airy and fresh.

As for the taste, it's watered-down in overall experience, and doesn't really taste like grapefruit. It's sweet and based in tea, but with a hint of citrus. Definitely would lean more on the juice side of the "tea/juice" tasting experience here. It's somewhat hard to describe, but it's pleasant. The flavors aren't overpowering and provide a nice compliment to food.

Jones GABA Grapefruit Tea Juice
Filtered Water, Inverted Cane Sugar, White Grape Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavor, Citric Acid, Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (PharmaGABA™), Caramel Color, FTC Natural White Tea From Brewed Tea, Tea Polyphenols

A 12 oz. can of Jones GABA Grapefruit contains 80 calories, 25 mg of sodium, and 19 g of sugars. The back of the can also notes that this drink contains 12% juice, as is also Fair Trade Certified.

With a light citrus, tea-infused flavor, Jones GABA Grapefruit Tea Juice provides pleasant refreshment for a non-carbonated drink. Throw in the GABA with its promise for improved "focus and clarity" and you've got a nice combination!