Pabst Blue Ribbon Hard Tea Seltzer
The beer companys been around since 1844, but only recently has Pabst gone beyond their core mission of cheap brews and Dennis Hopper endorsements. After releasing a surprisingly decent canned cold brew , PBR now offers four flavors of hard tea seltzer . At a modest 4% ABV, the black tea notes dominate here, but its a rather gentle kick overall, and not overly sweet or fruity. They go down like, well PBRs on a hot summer day.
Why Owls Brew Is Our Favorite Boozy Tea
Every Owls Brew flavor is crafted with 100% real ingredients, made with fresh-brewed tea, and is gluten-free. Owls Brew provides the breakdown of all the ingredients in their boozy teas on their website. Thankfully, Owls Brew has recently rolled out the ability to order their boozy teas directly through their site. This has made my life easier, but I wish they offered a monthly variety-pack subscription.
With Owls Brew, you know what youre drinking in your boozy tea, unlike a lot of the hard seltzers out on the market. Most hard seltzers are really sweet, and I feel like I will have a major hangover the next day. Owls Brew is different. It tastes like a small batch high-end tea from a boutique coffee shop.
Owls Brew has become one of my regular drink choices to enjoy during the week or weekend. I am super happy that I no longer need to suffer through basic, naturally flavored, mango-flavored hard seltzer. Heres to the rest of 2022 drinking a great, natural boozy tea made from real ingredients.
Fishers Island Lemonade Spiked Tea
Better known for their spiked lemonades , the NY-based Fishers Island recently launched this spiked tea, which is vodka and whiskey with natural juice and flavors. Definitely more lemonade than tea, this is for fans of spiked Arnold Palmers over ice with a bit of seltzer may be a better way to have this rather than straight from the can.
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Owls Brew Spiced Chai And Cranberry Boozy Tea Is Fall Flavored Perfection
When the winter chill fills the air, a cozy, comforting flavor is quite satisfying. With the new Owls Brew Spiced Chai and Cranberry Boozy Tea, that first sip will make that afternoon curled up on the couch feel even more satisfying. This version of afternoon tea is far different than grandmas pour.
For some people, tea is must as much ritual as it is about a refreshing sip. While that tea bag might be easy, a well crafted cup of tea, with a variety of blended flavors, has people appreciating what it means to truly sip of cup of tea.
When Jennie Ripps and Maria Littlefield founded Owls Brew, the pair sought to offer an alcoholic beverage that stood out in a crowd. By focusing on real ingredients and slow, methodical process, the resulting beverage is one that deserves a moment of contemplation.
Although the brand implores drinkers to drink wisely, it is more than just drinking with thought. That concept is blended into everything it does. From the first crack of the can to the final drop, each and every aspect is considered before that single can hits a home refrigerator.
The Antioxidants And Vitamin C Got Me
I am branching out on my local ready-to-drink cocktail search – because I’ve basically seen it all at my small town grocery stores. Last week I found a goodie at Trader Joe’s which just happens to be in the same parking lot as Walmart so sucked it up and went to Walmart as well. I don’t love going in there but they do have a different selection and I felt fully rewarded for my effort when I saw this cute bottle!
Way up on the top shelf there were three of these sexy matte black bottles from Owl’s Brew, a brand that is totally new to me. I selected this one, a Citrus Sweet Tea mixer. The bottle boosts it is “crafted with botanicals & tea” and “rich in antioxidants + vitamin C.” And because I’m a savvy cocktail shopper now, I looked at the ingredients to see if the “sweet tea” was going to be the yucky artificial kind.
Good news girls! No fake sugar here. It is sweetened with organic agave and that is all I needed to know to bring this little beauty home with me.
After whipping up a quick cocktail at home I honestly can’t believe I found this at Walmart but I’m so happy I did. The ingredients are much more high brow than I would expect at Walmart – organic tea, organic agave – but at a Walmart price. It is a steal at $6!
Here is my official review of Owl’s Brew Citrus Sweet Tea cocktail mix :
One shaker = not sweet at all // Five shakers = your teeth may curl
One shaker = does this have booze? Five shakers = Four Lokos
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Loverboy Sparkling Hard Tea
Loverboy was founded by Bravo TVs Summer House cast members Kyle Cooke, Amanda Batula and Carl Radke in 2018 while filming the show. These are monkfruit-sweetened sparkling drinks, which is a bit more noticeable with the lemon iced tea than the Hibiscus Pom release. Overall, very fruity and light and crushable.
Hard Teas Tease Towards Trending
Given the booming popularity of hard seltzers, one would be forgiven for not realizing that hard teas too have started to trend.
In 2020, Vine Pair noted that hard tea already commanded $436 million in sales in 2019 and surpassed $200 million by July 2020. “We thought that seltzer was just getting the party started, demonstrating there is such a thing as an alcoholic beverage that consumers can drink and not feel guilty about,” Crook and Marker’s Chief Marketing Officer Daniel Goodfellow explained, indicating that the obvious boom of hard seltzers has opened the opportunity for other beverages, like tea and coffee, to become alcoholic as well.
The premise of this market, like hard seltzers, seems to be summed up by a statement that Jackie Atlas, founder of another alcoholic tea brand Wandering Whistler, made to Forbes. “In the more casual environment, for me, there’s this whole white space of opportunity of non-beer drinkers,” she explained. Indeed, light, non-spirit drinks for causal affairs is the market that’s attracted the most overt attention from alcohol brands. Offering tea-based options merely expands the palette of this niche. And, if the responses to @aldi.mademedoit are anything to go by, it’s a niche that will attract many.
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We Tested 10 To Find Out Ranging From White Claw To A Tea Sommeliers Blend
Even though Owls Brew hard tea only launched in January of 2020, co-founders Maria Littlefield and Jennie Ripps have been extolling the virtues of spiking tea with booze for quite a while. The difference with their brand is that, unlike many of their competitors in the ready-to-drink space, theyre coming to the alcoholic canned drinks market as tea experts.
Tea is the second-most consumed beverage in the world, Littlefield tells InsideHook. And there are so many flavors you can create with tea botanicals.
Hard tea isnt new as drinks market analysts IWSR noted a few years back, Some notable brands launched nearly 20 years ago but the category is currently becoming revitalized as brands create new options that address the desire for lower sugar, natural ingredients, clean labels and sophisticated flavors.
And like the rest of the RTD world, its growing fast. The volume of hard tea products grew 25.9 percent last year, as reported by the IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.
But identifying exactly what constitutes a hard tea can be challenging. Some of them taste like the bottled/canned iced teas you already know, but with a boozy kick. Others lean more into the other non-tea ingredients, primarily lemon. Some are fizzy, some are not. Some are sweet, some lack caffeine, some are just using tea to get to another flavor profile. Even the alcohol base can be different, depending on the drink.
Owl’s Brew X Jeannie Mai
THE STORY
Jeannie Mai joined the Owl’s Brew team as Chief Brand Officer .
Jeannie stumbled across Owls Brew at her local Whole Foods while on a mission to find a boozy beverage that wasnt chock-full of artificial sweeteners and flavorings. Jeannie was instantly hooked and became a fan of Boozy Teas refreshing flavor, and the benefits from its organic, antioxidant-rich ingredients.
I found my love for tea at an early age. Growing up, I learned how to brew my own concoctions of herbs and leaves when I was under the weather. Im an avid tea drinker, but I had never experienced anything like Owls Brew before. Its deliciousand doesnt taste artificial, unlike most canned adult drinks, said Jeannie Mai. I started researching the brand and was so excited to see that it was female-founded. I immediately reached out to the co-founders to get involved. I am so thrilled about joining the company and partnering with Jennie and Maria.
Follow along and
Instagram Live with Jeannie, Jennie & Maria
Jeannie on Access Hollywood
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What Is Different About Owls Brew Spiced Chai And Cranberry Boozy Tea
The newest flavor added to the brands line is the Owls Brew Spiced Chai and Cran Boozy Tea. While some people might think of a chai latte, this beverage uses traditional chai spices to make a warm, inviting sip. With flavors of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and cardamom, the combination offers a sense of warm comfort.
Although this boozy tea is delightful on its own, it lends itself to making a cocktail. Even simply serving the beverage with a fresh cinnamon stick or even some drunken cranberries as a garnish is quite a good choice.
To elevate the beverage a little more, consider adding sugared cranberries as a garnish. The frosted look is perfect for the holidays.
Also, this boozy tea can make a lovely cocktail. Since the beverage has a variety of spices, it pairs well with gin, especially a modern gin that isnt too juniper forward. With the gin, a touch of herbaceous simple syrup and the tea makes for a great sipper.
Basically, the Owls Brew lends itself to cocktail experimentation. From gin to vodka to even a robust aged rum, it can be a fun afternoon to play with all the possibilities.
The Owls Brew Spiced Chai and Cranberry Boozy Tea is available now. For more information on retailers and other purchasing options, please visit the brands website.
What are your favorite winter flavors? Does your cocktail preference change with the seasons?
Would I Buy These Again
Probably – for this flavor. Definitely – for the Owl’s Brew line!
I really like the Owl’s Brew Citrus Sweet Tea mixer but they have so many others I want to try that I would be torn. I have my eye on the Strawberry Manhattan and the Wicked Margarita next. How amazing do those sound?!?!
PLUS Owl’s Brew also has a brand new canned cocktail line of boozy teas that I’m DYING to try. There are three flavors and they come in a multi-pack due in stores this month. I haven’t seen them in a store yet but as soon as I find them, we’ll be trying those too!To find out where you can pick up Owl’s Brew near you visit their website here – btw, you CAN pick these up at Whole Foods and several other fancy grocery store chains. *wink wink*
Have you tried this drink? What did you think? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section. The more opinions the better! Let’s “drink together” and share our cocktail stories.
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Bud Light Seltzer Iced Tea
A guest review from InsideHook editor and spiked seltzer guru Logan Mahan: Surprisingly refreshing for a brand beloved by frat bros. Launched right before Memorial Day of this year, the Bud Light Seltzer Iced Tea Variety Pack features four flavors: Raspberry, Apple, Peach and Tangerine. What Bud Light does well is balance those bold natural flavors with the simple taste of iced tea for a light, thirst-quenching seltzer iced tea not overpowered by too much flavor Plus, you have a couple non-traditional iced tea flavor offerings, like citrusy Tangerine and a super crisp-tasting Apple.