alcoholic tea

The organic alcoholic tea has zero sugar, 90 calories and no artificial ingredients. Credit: OlegKovalevichh / Shutterstock.

Cheeky beverage company loverboy has launched a new drink based on tea, but with a twist: it’s alcoholic. At the moment these are available in the US.

The ‘hard’ tea, as it is called, is marketed mostly to the female market (hence the name) and comes in three flavours. It is served in vibrant small cans, much like the cocktail ones you find in Marks and Spencer (there are other supermarkets available).

In addition to having an alcoholic twist, this ‘hard’ tea’s other unique selling points are the fact that it is zero sugar, yes, zero, just 90 calories, contains no artificial anything, and is organic and gluten free (last being a bit obvious). Essentially, this ‘hard’ tea is the January dream, appealing to those who want to get drunk but not fat.

Consumers have shown an interest in products that have a lower calorie count, and that are seen as a healthy alternative to an otherwise naughty treat, just look at all those ‘only 99 calorie brownies’ out there.

And then there is the whole sugar thing. As seen over the last few years, many countries have included sugar taxes in their policies. This is because the implication of too much sugar is seen as bad for you. These drinks address that, and then some.

Reading this, you would think that loverboy’s drinks have all the ingredients to be a huge success. The thing is, it may well be the ingredients that stop it being a huge success. You see, tea is not what people are used to when drinking alcohol. It is, however, the most widely drunk beverage in the world (or possibly even the universe), so in theory it could become popular.

The tea flavours are potentially a bit odd, there is hibiscus Pom, white tea peach and black tea lemon. Good summer drinks maybe, refreshing maybe, but not massively exciting really.

If we think back to the other fads, alcoholic ginger beer, alcopops and canned mixed drinks, then we will realise that these things do not set the world on fire, this is maybe what will happen with alcoholic tea.

One thing that these drinks have over the aforementioned is the low calorie and low sugar content, which should prove appealing, especially in the winter when everyone is on a health kick, so maybe, just maybe, these will be as popular as tea.

Latest reports from

GlobalData

Or to search over 50,000 other reports please visit

GlobalData Report Store

GlobalData is this website’s parent business intelligence company.