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Bottled Iced Teas with Lemon

We were looking for iced teas that actually tasted like tea. Could any deliver?

Published Aug. 1, 2009. Appears in Cook's Country TV Season 3: Southern Comfort Food

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What You Need To Know

Americans’ love of tea has blossomed in recent years, bringing new bottled iced varieties onto shelves and prompting familiar brands to revamp their formulas. We tasted seven top-selling brands of sweetened black teas with lemon, and not surprisingly, iced teas that actually tasted like tea (and real lemon) received the highest marks. The top performers extract flavor from concentrated tea leaves. Several brands we liked less use instant tea and seemed muddled. Tasters also liked balance. Our results didn’t correlate with the total amount of sugar; rather, teas with too little citric acid came across as “lemon candy” and teas with too much as “too acidic.”

Everything We Tested

*All products reviewed by America’s Test Kitchen are independently chosen, researched, and reviewed by our editors. We buy products for testing at retail locations and do not accept unsolicited samples for testing. We list suggested sources for recommended products as a convenience to our readers but do not endorse specific retailers. When you choose to purchase our editorial recommendations from the links we provide, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices are subject to change.

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The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing.

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