My Pick for Best Iced Tea Brand

Nov 26, 23

I should have written about this a while ago since I arrived at this conclusion a good while back. What’s the best brand of tea for making iced tea? Well, the conventional wisdom among Southerners is Luzianne, by a wide margin. Just about every house in the South is going to have a box of it. I grew up with it, and I was perfectly prepared to just declare that settled science, but if you know me, well, once I got to thinking about it I had to actually settle the matter.

Most supermarkets in the South carry four brands: Luzianne, Red Diamond, Tetley, and Lipton. Probably Tetley and Lipton are considered yankee teas, but the grocery stores carry them. I bought all four brands, made tea, and drank it. Tough job, but I soldiered through it. I’ll be honest and go ahead and admit that all of them are fine. You’re going to get a respectable iced tea out of any of these brands. To my surprise, though, Red Diamond, out of Birmingham, Alabama, was my clear first pick. Like I said, I thought Luzianne would mop the floor with these chumps, but Red Diamond came out of nowhere and claimed the top spot. Here’s my ranking:

  1. Red Diamond
  2. Luzianne
  3. Tetley
  4. Lipton

It is settled now, and so Red Diamond is all I buy, and I drink a lot of tea, unsweeted only. What a joyful beverage.