We Taste-Tested Eight Brands of Iced Teas—Here Are Our Favorites

On a scorching hot summer day, you’ll likely find me sipping a glass of iced tea. Although I prefer to brew my own tea when I only have to make enough for myself and my family, I almost always choose store-bought iced tea when hosting a gathering, which means there’s no need to brew and chill gallons of tea.

To find the very best unsweetened iced tea, our editors sampled eight different brands of nationally available bottled iced tea that you’re likely to find at your local supermarket and online. We stuck to plain iced tea, without any added flavors, such as peach or other fruits. We poured each into cups, then sampled them chilled in random order without knowing which tea was which. After sipping our way through all the iced teas, we tabulated the results and crowned an overall winner, as well as two other worthy contenders that we’d be happy to serve at our potlucks, picnics, and barbecues.

The Criteria

Unsweetened iced tea should be smooth and balanced. It should taste like tea: There should be some bitter, tannic notes, but not so much that your mouth puckers. Fruity notes, such as those of peaches or nectarines, are welcome, as are honeyed and floral notes; however, the dominant flavor should still be that of tea.

Overall Winner

Uncle Matt’s Organic Brewed Unsweet Tea

Though I found this iced tea to be quite bitter, all our other tasters enjoyed it. Case in point: our associate culinary editor, Laila, noted: “Might be too tannic for some, but I liked it!” Our editorial director, Daniel, thought it had “classic black tea flavor,” and our senior social media editor, Kelli, described it as “very drinkable.” Our visual editor, Jessie, liked that it was “light and easy” with a slight tannic flavor. Amanda, our associate visuals director, is a woman of few words and simply enthused: “Not bad!”

Runners-Up

• Pure Leaf Unsweetened Black Tea
• Trader Joe’s Black Tea Unsweetened Beverage

While we did not enjoy the other teas quite as much as our winner, all our editors liked the iced teas from the two brands mentioned above and would be happy to serve and drink either. Daniel loved the “clean, refreshing” flavor of Pure Leaf Unsweetened Black Tea, and noted that it “tastes like real tea.” Similarly, Jessie and I thought Pure Leaf was smooth and balanced, with a crisp flavor that wasn’t overly sour or tannic. 

Kelli enjoyed the floral notes and slight hint of sweetness in Trader Joe’s Black Tea Unsweetened Beverage. Daniel enjoyed the tea’s acidity and thought it was another good classic-tasting iced tea.

The Contenders

• Arizona Real Brewed Unsweetened Just Tea
• 365 by Whole Foods Organic Unsweetened Black Tea
• Gold Peak Unsweetened Black Tea
• Just Ice Tea Original Black Tea, Unsweetened
• Pure Leaf Unsweetened Black Tea
• Subtle Tea Craft Brewed Organic Tea, Sweetless
• Trader Joe’s Black Tea Unsweetened Beverage
• Uncle Matt’s Organic Brewed Unsweet Tea

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Although our editors had different preferences for how tart or bitter they wanted their iced tea, we generally enjoyed all the teas and would be happy to serve any of them at our cookouts. All the iced teas we tasted have water and black tea and/or black tea concentrate as the primary ingredients. Many store-bought iced teas contain citric acid or phosphoric acid, which are often used as preservatives and give food and beverages a kick of acidity. Our winner and runners-up are all made with citric acid or phosphoric acid, and one of our runners-up, Trader Joe’s, contained natural flavors. Though these teas are fine served plain, we all agreed that they’d be better with a touch of lemon juice, fresh mint, simple syrup, or maybe even a dash of bourbon. So if you’re serving bottled iced tea at a party, consider setting out a station with add-ins for guests.

Our Testing Methodology

All taste tests are conducted with brands completely hidden and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample one first, while taster B will taste sample six first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill out tasting sheets ranking the samples for various criteria. All data is tabulated and results are calculated with no editorial input in order to give us the most impartial representation of actual results possible.