Summer is the best time for chilling out with a big jug of ice-cold drinks, and if you’re looking for a healthier alternative to sugary sodas and juices, iced tea is a great option. Iced tea is made by steeping tea leaves in hot water, then cooling the brew down and adding ice. This refreshing beverage can be enjoyed plain, with fruit or a variety of flavourings added.
While iced tea does often contain some sugar for the added flavour, it often comes from the fruits and extracts added to the recipe. Overall, it’s also lower in calories and a healthier alternative to most other chilled beverages. Even better, there is also a large range of brands that make iced tea sugar-free alternatives with natural flavour. So, there’s no need to worry about the sugar in iced tea – it’s a healthy, refreshing option that’s perfect for summer. Cheers!
SO, HOW MUCH SUGAR IS IN ICED TEA?
Although your traditionally brewed, boiling water in the kettle type tea is considered a healthy beverage, iced tea doesn’t often get the same treatment. However, there are actually plenty of healthy iced tea options that are often overlooked by retailers and cafes when building out their iced beverage menu. A lot of major brands like Lipton have also released a sugar-free iced tea recipe in their product range. Drinking a natural and sugar-free iced tea means you’ll quench your thirst and get a heap of health benefits over its sugary counterparts.
WHAT IS THE HEALTHIEST WAY TO SWEETEN ICED TEA?
Artificial sweeteners like sucralose and stevia can be a great low-carb diet option to natural sugars but can create a super sweet taste. Sucralose and other artificial sweeteners can be up to 600 times sweeter in taste than naturally occurring sugars. So when it comes to making health-conscious swaps for sweeteners, especially if you’re looking to add some additional health benefits to your drink, using honey or natural fruit juices like lemon to increase the sweetness of your iced tea mix might just be the best choice for you.
WHICH ICED TEA HAS THE LEAST AMOUNT OF SUGAR?
When it comes down to which iced tea has the least sugar, it depends on what you have access to in your state and region. In Australia, there are a few different sugar-free iced tea options on the market that range from commercial products to drinks with a more local and homemade packaging or taste. We would recommend you check out the stock and labels on the products at your local grocery stores and competitors to see which brands might be the best option for you or your business.
Doing this research is a great business exercise to ensure you are stocking the brands of drinks your local customer base prefer, and are already consuming and drinking on a regular basis. We know that scoping sugar-free varieties of some of these popular options might be a little tricky for some businesses, so we’ve created a short list of our favourite sugar-free iced tea options that you can order directly from Kelly’s Distributors, just for you!
OOR TOP 3 SUGAR-FREE ICED TEA RECOMMENDATIONS
LIPTON SUGAR-FREE ICED TEA VARIETIES
We hear a question from many first-time customers: “Is Lipton iced tea no sugar?”
While the original product range might be well known for its famously sweet Lemon, Raspberry and Peach ice tea drinks, a lot of retailers overlook that Lipton also makes iced tea in their staple fresh and delicious tasting Lemon and Peach flavours that are completely sugar-free!
This is our top recommendation for retailers who know their customers like to have options but often stick to the brands and tastes they know. These customers may be health conscious and are willing to opt for sugar-free in their search for a cool drink at your store. Not only are they the perfect size for both eating-in and takeaway options that store perfectly in the fridge section for retailers.
ORIGIN LOW SUGAR PREMIUM ICE TEA SYRUPS
Origin Tea’s iced tea mixes are made from real tea leaves that are expertly blended into their signature syrup. The best thing about this recipe is that you never need to handle tea bags, tea leaves or boiling water to sell it. You can easily enjoy a premium homemade iced tea taste by adding ice cubes and cold water to a jug, a syrup pump, and a mix!
This iced tea syrup is brewed using natural cane sugar and fruit extracts to bring a premium quality experience. Although not a completely sugar-free option, we often like to showcase this range as an alternative drink where customers might usually be drinking coffee or other cafe-style ice drinks. This refreshing iced tea has less sugar (only 8g of sugar per serve) than other iced drink products on the market, making them healthier for kids and adults alike.
It’s great for cafes as you can prepare a batch of your own low-sugar iced tea to keep in the fridge overnight, use it per serve, or provide cups as needed with a real homemade iced tea taste. They’re also perfect for spicing up your drink menus if you’re looking for something non-alcoholic, as they are also suitable for mocktails and cocktails.
PS ORGANIC ICED TEA RANGE
If you’re looking for a product that is a wholly natural and sugar-free iced tea our final recommendation is PS Organics iced tea range. Not only are their drinks great for customers who prefer to count calories and may be on a low-carb diet, but their bottles and website provide health-conscious consumers with all the nutrition information they could possibly need.
Their cool and fresh iced tea range comes in three delicious flavours:
- Green Tea and Morrocan Mint
- Elderflower and White Tea
- Black Tea, Hibiscus and Cranberry
PS Organic’s delicious drinks use a sweetener to enhance the flavour of their healthy iced tea, primarily sweetened with stevia and other natural sweeteners.