drank Sprite + Tea by Coca-Cola
17330 tasting notes

A while back there was a fairly polarizing trend on Reddit of infusing bottled Sprite with black tea bags via overnight cold brewing. As you can imagine given the tea community on reddit, this was a contentious experiment with people having very extreme feelings on it.

Well, queue the announcement/commercialization of this new tea flavoured Sprite which seems to at least in part have been inspired by this trend of mixing Sprite and grocery store style/quality black tea blends. From the perspective of someone who works in product development, I think this is actually a really brilliant product offering from Coca Cola and smart line addition. But as a tea drinker myself, I am of course skeptical about the execution. To start, it’s not actually made with tea but “tea flavoured” and there’s no caffeine in the drink at all. So, really, this is “tea” under the loosest definition.

But I still needed to give it a try because, ultimately, taste trumps all else and if it tastes good (relative for the type/style of product) then that’s the most important thing. I’ve had a couple cans of this now, trying to decide what I think, and ultimately I think I just find the flavour underwhelming. Not bad. Not offensive. But just too light. It’s like they put more focus into getting the colour of the soda correct for what they were trying to emulate, but it doesn’t really remind me of black tea or any other type of tea all too much when I’m drinking it. In fact, if I was drinking this blind without the placebo of seeing the more golden amber liquor I might actually think it’s just regular Sprite with a slightly weird aftertaste.

To me, it’s a shame because I think the potential was strong here. But ultimately it’s not going to be the “tea drinkers” that dictate the success of this product – it will be the soda drinkers who are regular consumers of Sprite. Is it enough tea flavour from them? Do they even like the concept of combining the two drinks? Appealing to their palate and sensibilities is definitely the more commercially viable path…

Cameron B.

I tried this and to me it tastes like Brisk mixed with Sprite!

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Cameron B.

I tried this and to me it tastes like Brisk mixed with Sprite!

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Hello! My name is Kelly, though many people in the tea community call me Ros or Roswell.

I am a mid-twenties tea addict, blogger, and all around nerd. I grew up in the Prairies, but a few years ago I relocated to Quebec to pursue a career with DAVIDsTEA in the tea industry! I’m still working on getting my French language skills down…

My first introduction to tea, in any form outside of instant and bottled iced tea, was about seven years ago when I happened to stumble upon DAVIDsTEA while looking for a birthday present for a friend! I tried their Birthday Cake rooibos blend, and I’ve been hooked on tea ever since! In those seven years; I was introduced to the online tea community, expanded my interest in flavoured teas to include a deep love and appreciation for straight teas and traditional brewing methods, got a tea themed tattoo, started reviewing teas, amassed a sizable tea and teaware collection, became a TAC certified Tea Sommelier, & even came full circle by beginning a career in the tea industry with DAVIDsTEA!

I consider myself a Jack of all Teas, and strive to have a knowledge and appreciation of all tea types, formats, and styles of drinking. I don’t like to feel boxed in to just being a “flavoured tea” or “straight tea” drinker – my expectations may vary depending on the type of tea or how it’s been processed/prepared but if it’s good tea, it’s good tea no matter how it’s been made!

You name it, I probably drink it- and I’ll absolutely try anything at least once.

My default method of preparation is hot, Western style, and straight – but I’m not opposed to additions if I’m in the right mood. If I ever add something to a tea or use a different method of preparation I will ALWAYS call it out in the tasting note though.

I like to listen to music when drinking tea, especially when I’m brewing a large pot at a time or steeping Gongfu. Often I curate very intentional tea and music pairings, and sometimes I share them here in my tasting reviews. Music is something that I find can deeply affect the experience of having tea.

I’m also one half of the “tea and fandom” podcast GeekSteep where, weekly, we discuss newly explored fandoms over tea as well as try to figure out the perfect tea to pair with each fandom. You can find us on Spotify and Apple & Google podcasts.

Favourite flavour notes/ingredients: Pear, lychee, cranberry, cream, melon, pineapple, malt, roasty, petrichor, sweet potato, heady florals like rose, hazelnut or walnut, sesame, honey (in moderation), and very woody shou.

Least favourite flavour notes/ingredients:
Lemongrass, ginger, strongly spiced profiles (and most Chai in general), mushrooms, seaweed, chamomile, stevia, saltiness or anything that reminds me too much of meat that isn’t supposed to taste like meat…

Currently exploring/obsessed with: Sheng from Yiwu, Yancha (Qilan in particular), anything with a strong sweet potato note. Also, I need to try ALL the root beer teas! Searching for a really good caramel flavoured blend, ideally with a black tea base.

Please contact me at the instagram account listed below if you would like me to review your teas.

Currently I’m employed in the tea department of the DAVIDsTEA head office. While I’m still sharing my own personal thoughts on new & existing DAVIDsTEA blends, I am no longer numerically rating them due to the obvious conflict of interest. Any comments expressed are a reflection of my own thoughts and opinions, and do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of the company. Any DAVIDsTEA blends you currently see with a numeric score were reviewed prior to my being hired there and have not been adjusted since becoming a DAVIDsTEA employee.

Location

Montreal, QC, CA

Website

https://www.instagram.com/ros...

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