American Vintage Hard Iced Tea with lemon Review

Last week I got a small package with a bunch of American Vintage Hard Iced Tea samples (wow, that was a mouthful) and I thought that tonight might be a great time to try one and cool off. 

Before pouring the can into a glass, I spent some time examining the label, reading the ingredients list and the rest of the text on the can. After I was done I poured myself a nice glass and was surprised to discover how much this resembled real iced tea. The beverage had a brownish color and poured with just a thin foam film and no carbonation. 

The aroma is of freshly brewed and lightly sweetened iced tea with a twist of lemon. The alcohol does not jump out and goes almost undetected until you go for a sip. Iced tea starts off the taste, but the alcohol comes shortly after and becomes dominant for a brief moment. 

The alcohol taste is truly unique and to be honest it is something that some people may not enjoy. The first time the alcohol hit my tongue, I thought I was tasting some rum, but after a second examination of the label, I confirmed that what I was tasting was nowhere near the taste of real rum. The alcohol comes from malt, which is the same basic ingredient found in beers, however, in this tea the malt tasted a bit differently. The second sip was a bit more different and I got more of the tea taste than the malt, which made me like it a bit more. The third and subsequent sips also showed more tea than malt. 

What I really liked about this drink was its finish. It is a bit dry, but it does have a lot of the lemon and tea goodness. After consuming a can I was still on the fence with this one. The iced tea part is fantastic, but I cannot say for sure that the malt part works 100%. This is a beverage that you will probably either love or hate.

Scores:

Cost - unsure

Taste - 6.5/10

ABV - 5%

Overall - 6.5/10...great iced tea flavour with a rather unique malt taste...a love it or hate it beverage