For the Love of Leaves ~ Pure Leaf Iced Tea ~ Fresh Brewed Taste

Growing up in Canada my experience with iced tea is somewhat different than the typical American one. This is what iced tea looks like in Canada:

It’s not common for people to actually brew black tea there and then ice it down to make iced tea, I mean I’m sure there are some people who do that…but in all my years of growing up, I never encountered it.

So then you can imagine mine and my siblings surprise when we were in the U.S. on vacation and ordered iced tea with our meals…one taste of that unsweetened cold tea and we were flabbergasted that anyone would drink it!

Okay so now that we’ve gotten the difference between Canadian iced tea and American iced tea out of the way, let’s talk some more about iced tea here in America…

Oh wait, did you know that a lot of the ready to drink iced tea product on the store shelves is actually just:

or concentrate!!! I know right?!

And here’s where Pure Leaf Iced Tea is different – it’s real brewed made from real tea leaves – which means it tastes like real tea…well because it IS real tea, not powder or concentrate.

Pure Leaf believes that tea is best when it’s pure and uncomplicated, and you’ll see that on the label. The Unsweetened Pure Leaf Iced Tea ingredients: Brewed Tea, Citric Acid. No preservatives, no added colors.

So you can see why the “Leaf” is their hero.

You would think that brewing up vats of real tea with giant tea bags would have challenges when it comes to flavor consistency, but Pure Leaf is able to keep the same taste from batch to batch and bottle to bottle with the help of John Cheetham who is Unilever’s Tea Master, one of only ten in the whole world. Take a peek at this video “Tea By the Numbers” to see what this man does.

When you think of iced tea (especially sweet iced tea!) you think of the south, and so that’s why Pure Leaf thought that The Kentucky Derby would be a great place to introduce their new packaging and the authentic taste of real brewed iced tea in ready-to-serve convenient sizes.

And of course on Derby day itself, Gail Simmons tantalized taste buds with her Lemon Ginger Mint Tuleps.

(Photo by Stephen Cohen/Getty Images)If you were a prior consumer of Pure Leaf, you’ll have noticed that it is now packaged in plastic bottles rather than glass. But it’s environmentally friendly made of PET plastic, contains no BPA and because of the new square shape, it allows them to stack more on a pallet, making lighter loads and equating to less fuel used in transport. You also will get a bit more in these bottles as they are now 18.5 oz! These come in Unsweetened, Sweetened, Extra Sweet, Raspberry, Peach, Lemon, Green Tea with Honey, Diet Peach and Diet Lemon.

Also a new size for Pure Leaf are the 59 oz. Carafes of the Unsweetened, Lemon and Sweet Tea varieties, which you can find in the beverage coolers at your grocer.

The venue was the perfect place to allow people to take the Pure Leaf real brewed taste challenge, to see if they could tell the difference between Pure Leaf Iced Tea and tea that had been freshly brewed that morning.

Have you tried Pure Leaf Iced Tea? Whether you have or haven’t check out the Real Brewed Challenge tab on Facebook, where you can weigh in on your taste buds, or receive a $1.00 off coupon so you can try it and then let them know what you think. While you’re there, you can enter for a chance to win a trip to the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival.

Whether you drink tea to enhance your meal or because you like the benefits it gives you.  Whether you prefer Unsweetened, or Extra Sweet, use it in a smoothie or add a splash of bourbon to it (!) – Pure Leaf Iced Tea will meet your demand as fresh brewed taste made convenient, because to Pure Leaf, it’s all For the Love of Leaves and it just might make you say; “I’ll Have Another” .

You can learn more about Pure Leaf at www.facebook.com/PureLeaf.

I was invited to participate in a taste immersion experience with Pure Leaf, for which they provided full travel expenses, meals and accommodations and other premiums, however my opinions are completely my own and I have not been compensated to publish positive or negative reviews of the event or products associated with my experience.