Lipton Iced Brisk Green Tea (Apple Flavored) Review

Type: 12oz. can, ready to drink tea
Price: Unknown
Vendor: Lipton
Overall Score: 2 out of 5

I received this can of Lipton Iced Brisk Green Tea from my boyfriend’s brother. My boyfriend, his parents, and I went to Chicago last weekend to visit his brother’s family. While we gathered around the dinner table that evening, the drinks they had in the house were listed and everyone selected their drink of choice. One drink that was mentioned was this particular green tea. I did not have any of this tea while having dinner with my boyfriend’s family but I did acquire a can in order to review it… and here are my thoughts:

When I poured the contents of the can into a glass and observed the liquid, I noted that I really liked the light green color. Of course this color came from a mixture of yellow number 5 and blue number 1, man made chemicals instead of naturally occurring hues, but I still liked the color. While observing I also noticed bubbles rising up the sides of the class. This obviously meant it was carbonated. This sparked my interest even more than it already had because I had never had carbonated green tea.

Before I took a sip, I noticed that it smelled a lot like apples, more specifically candy apples. It reminded me a lot of the sour apple Jolly Rancher candies.

And guess what, it tasted like a sour apple Jolly Rancher too. There was only a tiny bit of carbonation, which surprised me from the amount of bubbles in the drink. However, this “green tea” drink did not taste like green tea at all. It tasted a lot like apple juice. Right now I almost wish I had some apple juice on me so I could compare. If I was not told what this substance was before I drank it, I would have sworn it was apple juice.

However, if I would have been drinking apple juice, at least I would have actually received the beneficial nutrients from the apple juice instead of the minimal nutritional value that this can of “tea” has to offer. Even though it tastes like apple juice and says it is “apple flavored,” when looking at the nutrition facts, right at the top it says “contains no juice.”

I was even more curious as to how good or bad this “tea” was for the consumer so I grabbed a can of Coca-Cola to compare. Note that each serving size is one can. The calories in Coke are 140 while in Brisk there are 130. The sodium in Coke is 50mg while in Brisk there is 100mg. Brisk wins the carbohydrates match up with only 35g to Coke’s 39g. Also, Brisk has 33g of sugar while Coke has 39g of sugar. In addition, there is more caffeine in Brisk than in Coke. Brisk contains 32mg/8 fl oz, while Coke contains 34mg/12 fl oz.

In conclusion, I would not drink this “tea” to satisfy my green tea craving. I’m sure the only way they can get away with calling it tea is by adding a small amount of green tea (which is the 9th ingredient out of 18 in the drink) because it doesn’t taste like tea at all. I would not even drink this “tea” as a substitute for soft drinks (note: I am not a huge soft drink fan). I really see no benefits in drinking this concoction what so ever. For example, on this can, there is no indication of the promotion of anti-oxidants found in green tea. If you ever get a massive sour apple Jolly Rancher craving, be my guest, but if you are seeking health benefits, weight loss properties* or even the taste of tea, run… run away!

*I, personally, do not seek weight loss properties from tea. I simply drink it because I enjoy the taste and I know it’s better for me than soft drinks or plain water.