The Bottled Iced Tea Brand That Completely Disgusted Us

Artificial flavors may be permissible, sometimes even expected, in certain sweet treats like grape candy and strawberry soda. But when it comes to a cup of tea, most consumers probably want something that highlights the brew's origins as a delicate, hand-harvested leaf. And this is what Gold Peak, a Coca-Cola-owned iced tea brand, aims to do: "Celebrate the natural goodness of tea" (via Coca-Cola). However, when we ranked 14 flavors of bottled and canned iced tea, Gold Peak came in dead last. Unfortunately, we found Gold Peak's unsweetened black tea to taste artificial and plasticky, the complete opposite of its promised flavor. Its only redeeming factor was that, although the tea taste was overwhelmed by less appetizing notes, it did contain the caffeine naturally found in black tea.

Gold Peak takes pride in the fact that it is made with real tea leaves and cane sugar. The list of ingredients of the brand's unsweetened iced tea (the variety used in our ranking) is reassuringly slim: black tea leaves, filtered water, and phosphoric acid. The latter is a common preservative that is largely tasteless but may add a slight tangy quality to the beverage. Gold Peak is also sold in plastic bottles, as the company made the switch from glass in 2010 to make the drinks more picnic-friendly. Sadly, there's both a common and scientific consensus that drinks taste better in glass bottles. So it's possible that Gold Peak sacrificed taste for safety, which affected its rank.

Coca-Cola's other tea brand, Peace Tea, didn't fare so well in the ranking, either. Coming in 11th place, Chowhound deemed Peace Tea's raspberry flavor to taste more like a Flintstone vitamin than a refreshing summer drink. Both Peace Tea and Gold Peak have an issue with unpleasant artificial tastes, so perhaps you could try adding a homemade mango puree to give either beverage a real fruit flavor. While Gold Peak's plastic packaging could be blamed for the tea's dreadful flavor, the canned Peace Tea is going to need another excuse.

As neither of these Coca-Cola-owned brands performed well against other available canned or bottled teas, you're probably better off steering clear of both. However, if you're in a pinch and they're you're only option, it's possible these teas could still make a decent base for a nice mocktail — provided, of course, that your additional flavors are able to cover up those plasticky undertones.