Good Drink adds Peach Tea with Apple to iced tea lineup

While I'm a devoted fan of iced tea for quenching thirst on sweltering summer days, many bottled or canned brands are hyper-sweet, syrupy concoctions, more akin to the taste of sugary sodas and often without any authentic tea flavour. (Cheers, Nestea.)

One iced tea line that diverges from that norm is the Good Drink brand distribued by Fort Langley-based Pacific Bottleworks Company (whose other brands include Mash Water Drink, Guayaki Yerba Mate, Boylan Soda, and Zola Coconut Water and Açai Juice).

Granted, it does have more of a juice-like flavour than purists may want. (Lipton's Pure Leaf Icea Tea has a stronger tea flavour.) However, the sweetness is moderate and the tea flavour is nuanced but remains discernible, creating a light and refreshing taste, rather than one that leaves a cloying aftertaste.

They also have some intriguing flavours, using a variety of different types of teas.

Flavours include the classic black tea with lemon and the subdued, delicate white tea with an authentic blueberry flavour. 

I'm particularly taken with their mango tea, which is made with brewed herbal tea (take note, those of you who want to avoid caffeine). The added complimentary flavours of vanilla and hibiscus give it a unique, memorable twist.

A new addition to the lineup is their peach tea with apple. The fruit flavours remain light enough to balance well with the white tea flavour, rather than overpowering it.

Unfortunately, the watery green tea with lemon and honey is the odd one out: the tea flavour is indistinct and if you closed your eyes, you'd be hard pressed to guess what it was you were drinking.

Each bottle contains about 24 to 28 grams of sugar and ranges from about 51 to 75 calories.

You can find it at various Vancouver grocery stores such as Whole Foods, IGA, or Your Independent Grocer.