When I reviewed the last hard tea from Lipton, I commented that I sometimes add lemon to my tea. In fact, I usually add a squirt of one of those sugar-free lemonade water flavors. Effectively, I'm creating what is colloquially known as an Arnold Palmer. Because these guys didn't want to pay the royalties, they call it a half-and-half. I don't remember anyone ever calling a half-and-half before, but I think we all know it's an Arnold Palmer. Let's give Arnie his due.
First sip is, indeed, slightly better than the lemon flavored tea. It is slightly sweeter, and that's kind of surprising considering how sweet I thought the other one was. Honestly, I would probably cut all of these with a whole lot more regular tea, despite the fact that I'll be reducing the ABV to 2.5. I'm not sure I've ever reviewed anything that had a 2.5 ABV. It's not the alcohol that I'm looking cut, but it is the sweetness of the tea itself. It just feels like it has too much sugar in it. At the same time, it's not as warm as southern sweet tea.
Tip-in is sweetness, teaness, lemoness, and a touch of alcoholitude. The middle is solid with tea and lemonade, and the alcohol is really kept at the fringes while the somewhat excessive sweetness is permitted to do what it wants with the center of the mouth. The finish is almost identical to the lemon flavored tea from yesterday with lemons and tea eventually overcoming the sweetness, but sweetness is back again for the trail off.
Bottom Line: Still not a bad drink.
3.0/5
