Taste Test: An Honest Look at Honest Tea

Exactly one year ago, I took my first sip of an Honest Tea beverage.  Their Agave Mate made me an instant fan.  Now I’m taking another look at Honest Tea but this time I’m getting by with a little help from my friends.

I put out a call for taste buds to my friends Kelvin, Margaret, and Annalise, and the sweetest GF ever Nicole.  Little did they know I was enlisting them to taste some Honest Tea and give me their honest opinions.

Similar to the PomX Tea taste test I did not too long, this would also be a blind taste test with the tasters not knowing anything about the beverage.

With a selection of two teas and two “ades” in hand — some provided by Honest Tea and a couple bottles purchased by me at Ralph’s —  I gathered the tasters in a secluded El Segundo conference room and recorded their opinions.  For reference, the teas are true teas and the “ades” are more like a fruit punch.  Let’s go!

#1 Orange Mango with Mangosteen Honest Ade

Margaret — Yum!  Its sweet but sweeter in the beginning.  Is this peach?

Kelvin —  This is good.  Its mango or something.  I wish it had a little more flavor.  It seems Gatorade-ish.

Nicole — I like it!

Annalise — Note: Annalise didn’t get to try this one because Nicole took the rest of the bottle!

#2 Honey Green Tea

Margaret — This tastes like a traditional tea.  I would drink it.

Kelvin — This is a greeen tea…with some kinda fruit.

Nicole — This dosen’t smell as good as #1.  It has something in the back of the throat.  Some “yuck”.

Annalise — I don’t like the after taste…it taste like “diet” something.  Is this peach?

#3 Peach White Tea

Margaret — It’s OK but I’d drink this quickly.

Kelvin — Hmmmmmm.  This is not good.  Taste like it took on the flavor of the bottle.  It tastes sort of “plasticky”.  How long did you have this before you served it to us? Note:  I had the bottle for just a couple days before serving it to the panel of tasters.  It was also well within the expiration date.

Nicole — No comment. Note:  Really, she said “No comment”.

Annalise — Hmmmm.  OK this is a peach tea.  Better than #2 but really sweet.

#4 Pomegranate Blue Honest Ade

Margaret — GRAPE! This taste a bit more than “just a tad sweet”.  But its good!

Kelvin — This is refreshing.

Nicole — Tastes like communion wine (Note: grape juice!) but without the sweetness.

Annalise — Tastes like grape juice.  Its a little sweet but its better than the others.

Wrapping Up

Wow!  Once again, tastes and opinions were all over the place.  But that just goes to show, ask four people’s opinion and you’ll get four different answers.  That might explain the guesses on peach flavor that were all over the place!

The other thing we discussed were the calories and price.  The tasters that were taking a closer look at their caloric intake — no names! — were pleased with the calorie count for the beverages.  The Honest Ades topped out at a waist-line-friendly 100 calories for a whole bottle (2 servings) while the teas were 85 calories or less for the same amount.

The tasters were a little surprised at the price per bottle, though, when I told them the bottles retailed for about $2.50 at Ralph’s.  However, I bought them on sale for $1 each.  I’ll have to check Whole Foods to comparison shop because the last time I checked there, Honest Teas were going for around $1.50.  I also found out later that Honest Tea offers coupons online.

As for taste, the Ades captured the popular vote.  In the end the clear winner was the grape-forward flavor of the Pomegranate Blue Honest Ade.  All of us agreed that this was one of the best out of the four we tried.  And with a nod from Nicole, the second best in show went to the Orange Mango Ade.

For more information including coupons and nutritional information, check out Honest Tea’s website, http://www.honesttea.com.