Arizona - 63 Reviews

Shawn, what did you do to this iced tea? Did you pour me a glass of iced tea, drink half of my glass, look in the fridge, realize there was no more tea and then refill my glass with water? You didn't? This was purchased like this? This is how you bought this? Look me in my eyes and tell me that this was unaltered and went from bottle to glass. Really? Who made this? Arizona? The company that has historically made decent tea that we all grew up with? Really? Well, that disappoints me. I am disappointed. This actually sucks. Shawn, you let me down. Not as much as Arizona has but this blows and it's your fault. Do better.

What is happening outside?! It's the last week of September and it's in the upper 80's. I'm walking with some dudes from work, maybe or maybe not playing Pokemon Go and just sweating, bro. Sweating. Neck, all pits, belly button. Sweaty.

What better way to quench the sweaty mess you have become than some classic Arizona Green Tea? Oh, you made more money than you did as a 35 year old than you did when you were twenty? Spend the extra dollar and get the "Good Brew" iced tea. It's the same flavor with none of the corn syrup or preservatives that you remember. It has more of that green tea bitterness that you have been losing the past fifteen years by dropping the corn syrup so it tastes less like lies than before. Not insultingly bitter like your crappy aunt (by marriage) but bitter like you would expect a green tea to be.

You can't pick your family. They just come with you or with whomever you're with. You can pick your teas, though and this is a wise decision over the classic tallboy. As nostalgic as it might be, this is pretty unarguably better. Children might disagree but they're dumb. Someone had to say it.

Well well. Look at this little guy. Sitting here all full of cucumber. What a nice surprise to see something Arizona put out that I was unaware of. Sure, I might not have my ear as close to the ground as I used to but I was caught off guard and didn't think for a second that I wasn't going to get it.

Let's get down to brass tacks. How is she? She's a lot less sweet than Arizona tried and true green tea. That's for truth. There is a very strong scent of cucumber and an equally strong taste. I'm not going to say overpowering but if you're on the fence about cucumbers, this is not the drink for you. There is a commitment issueless amount of cucumber flavor going on within the confides of this can and I know something about commitment issues. I dated my live-in girlfriend for eight years before I ask her to marry me.

I might have drank half of this can. The whole thing is far too much for me. There isn't anything wrong with it but the whole can I feel is a bit gluttonous. You've done a fine thing here, Arizona. Don't take the half I'm going to dump into the sink as an insult. I'm a little under the weather and cannot share the remainder of this.

So much smoother. "Than what, Mike?" you ask? Well that the other Arnold Palmer, man. Giving me attitude like that. Come on, dude. Don't give me that.

This is a classic Arnold Palmer but with real sugar courtesy of the good folks at Arizona. I feel like it's been a long time since we've reviewed something from them. Have they become complacent with their seemingly endless array of drinks? Perhaps. Do we, these thirsty dudes, not have our ear as close to the ground as we used to? Perhaps. Is this better than the one that they used to sell? I think so. Between my brother and this dude Mike I used to and will soon work with again they probably drank hundreds of gallons of that stuff. The light (lite) stuff. This is not light. Full sugar. Real sugar. "Good" sugar.

I don't know if they'd like it. Maybe because they're a little older and a little wiser but also because maybe they're accustomed to the taste of the aspartame or the corn syrup or Splenda or whatever they used. Who knows? I suppose I could buy them a bottle but you know what? They can get one themselves. This one was lent to me so I don't have one to give.

This is an old favorite from my pre-Thirsty Dudes days. Man those were different times. I drank so much sugar back then and never thought twice about it. How was I not gigantic? I would easily drink at least three Arizona tall boys a day, not counting the other garbage I consumed. This wasn't a constant back then, but that was only because it didn't come in a 99 cent can and I only splurged on the extra half dollar when I was feeling special. It was a treat that I gave myself.

Most of my favorite drinks from that time period don't really hold up for me anymore, because my body has changed and so much sugar makes me feel like garbage. Taking one sip of this brought me right back though. It was the early 2000s. All I did was play music and hang out with my friends. I was in my 20's it was allowed. Hell, it's still kind of what I do now. I had terribly dyed black hair and for some reason I tucked my t-shirts in. I was a catch I tell ya. I also existed on seemingly nothing but pizza and tacos, yet I never gained a pound. I wouldn't say it was a better time, but it was a different time and I had my fun. I drank my teas and didn't think twice about it. It's no longer the cost that makes this a treat, but the amount of sugar (45g/bottle). It tastes sweet, but not to an extent that it hurts my teeth. It has that classic Arizona green tea flavor, that isn't quite what other green tea tastes like, but it's wonderful. On top of that the Asia plum adds just the right amount of flavor. I've had other Asian beverages that said they were plum and they tasted like moldy meat. This is the opposite of that. Wait, would that be fresh veggies? It's not that, but it is delicious. I hope this flavor makes a comeback because you don't see it much these days.

Who would have ever guessed that carrot juice could be so good? I mean I am a friend of the carrot, and I enjoy eating them in their crisp, raw form, but I never thought I would take pleasure in drinking their life-juice. Let's be fair, there is a lot of sugar in here. I mean an obscene amount, like 65g. I'm sure that has a lot to do with the enjoyment factor. It also helps that apples, pears and mangos are also in the mix. The combination of all of these fruits and vegetables creates an unusual fruit punch that you won't be seeing in gallon buckets. The flavor here is almost all mango and carrot. The apple falls into the “sweet taste” category and I can't really make out the pear.

This could have been a nice healthy juice if it were freshly concocted without added sweeteners, but the high fructose corn syrup throws any health benefits out the window. It actually makes me feel fairly guilty for having drunk this entire bottle. That is so much unnecessary sugar I just ingested. Well, at least it tasted pretty great.

Look at us, Arizona. We are growing up and we are doing it together. When I was a kid, you and I shared lemon tea and green tea outside of gas stations. Now I've got a career, kid, dog, mortgage and I'm drinking oak steeped tea. We are classy individuals. We went from a time of immaturity including but not limited to:

• lighting tennis balls on fire and playing street hockey
• Throwing cans of Raid into bonfires and having them explode.
• Making multi-floor treehouses in a friend's backyard
• Following friends down hills in cars while they rode street luges made out of old street signs

Together, we have turned into quasi-functional "adults" with responsibilities. Your responsibility was to make a calm, nice tasting tea and you did it, buddy. This tea is slightly lemony, slightly sweetened and has all the nice, woody qualities that would make a whisky drinker blush. Way to go. Now let's go be creepy dudes at the mall.

The folks at Arizona are preparing for the worst. No, they are not in financial straights (at least as far as I know), they are simply doing what every smart company does, and that is prepare for the worst and come up with an exit strategy. Some companies figure out how they could sell all of their assets, and what they could get for everything if the worst finally hit. Others, more likely in less legal pursuits, bury bags of money random places so that they have something to fall back on in case they need to go fast. Arizona has forgone all of the traditional routes and has purchased a surplus of oaken barrels. They have chosen to ride the iced tea wave until the end, and if that leaves them homeless and penniless, at least they won't be naked and will show their sense of humor, by going the classic editorial cartoon route of wearing nothing but a barrel with shoulder straps.

While these barrels were originally bought as a joke, some quick thinker on the R&D team realized that until the day came when their last tea leaf was brewed and all of their clothing was sold off to the Richie Richs of the world, these barrels could serve another purpose; they could be used to brew a special blend of tea. You see if you brew the tea in the barrels some of the oak's flavor is absorbed into the tea giving it a more refined taste. The same method is often used in making wine, except with the tea it doesn't taste like death and rot, it tastes sophisticated. Add a little honey and maple syrup to that brew and you're good to go. Make sure you don't add too much though. Those are strong flavors that could easily distract one's taste buds from the oak notes. Luckily Arizona got it right on the nose. You can taste the tea, the oak, the honey and the maple and none of the flavors are fighting for dominance. This lightly sweetened version of this tea has a little sugar added as well (8g per serving, 20g per bottle). There's more sugar in here than I would expect in something that is lightly sweet, but to me it does have the perfect amount of sweetness for when I'm not looking for a straight tea, no sugar.

Unfortunately for the future of Arizona, some rookie, smashed up the barrels and brewed the chunks in the tea. Sure it has the same results on the flavor, but what about when the market falls out? What will the employees wear?

Arizona is becoming a man. We don't need to go into the whole "What makes a man a man?" discussion? We all know. We either are a man, know a man, or have watched that sex-ed video about male "parts."

Why are they a man? Well they are maturing. No more filthy garbage sweetener. No giant, metal cans for a dollar. They are charging decent money for a quality product. Black tea steeped in American Oak mixed with honey and maple sugar. You can taste everything, too and it's great. The honey is more of a flavor than a sweetener and as a result of our recent reviews of maple waters, you can taste the maple as well.

You end up with a fantastic, unsweet tea with the flavors of things that are sweet but aren't sweetening the drink. Flavor, essence, honey, oak. Do not hesitate to buy this and please, keep buying it. It would be a shame if something happened to this drink and they didn't continue making it. A low down, dirty shame.

Ladies and Gentlemen, We have done it. We have compressed all that you love about apples and turned it into a liquid that closely resembles that of its original, solid form. Please hold for applause. We have some more explaining to do. We've taken apples, actual apples and compressed them down until their poor skins cannot contain their contents any longer and when that happened, we compressed even more to release the sweet nectar of the apple. Then we added a little bit of sugar, you know, for fun.

Now, and only until now, can you applaud and get in line to shake the hand at the scientists that we gave massive amounts of money at to develop this master beverage. Why isn't anyone clamoring to allow these scientists, these masters of men, to impregnate their wives and determine the worthiness of their very being? I'm sorry sir, what did you say? Apple juice exists? Surely you jest. This has never been done before. What do you mean that baby has some? Baby, come here. Give me your bottle. Oh, you're very cute. Thank you. I promise I will not drink your entire bottle. I am a scientist, not a monster.

Huh. Well. This is a bit humiliating. It appears that this drink which you peasants call "apple juice" does exist and is readily available. It appears we have not only wasted your time calling you out of your homes and work, but have also wasted tens of thousands of dollars on developing something that all of you are more than familiar with. Perhaps us scientists should stop working in caves and go outside into the sunshine and fraternize with the people to find out what they really want. Our bad.

I like that Arizona has been associating their new products with various “celebrities.” I have to be honest, I'm not a big art guy by any means, and I had no idea who Richard Prince was. The can (and Wikipedia) inform me that he was a photographer and painter who created pop culture-inspired art for decades. Apparently he is mostly known for “rephotographing.” If you want to know what that is; you're on a computer and Google is but a click away.

Prince also did a series of nurse paintings, which used the covers of pulp romance novels. This is where I tie in with the artist. Sonic Youth used one of these paintings for the cover of their Sonic Nurse album. It's ridiculous that learning that fact made me feel like I had a connection with the artist. It's not even a record that I like terribly much, but it is from a band that I once held very dearly.

Whatever. This isn't about an artist this is about a beverage. Apparently Prince approached Arizona with a soda he wanted to collaborate with them on, and ended up being apart of the Lemon Fizz release. The artist designed the can himself, so you're essentially buying a Richard Prince print for only 99 cents. What a steal.

Back to the beverage: This is carbonated lemonade, and it is great. I had such low expectations for this, as I expected a lemon lime soda (the most boring of all the pops) minus the lime (making it infinitely more boring). Arizona succeeded in creating a soda that actually tastes like lemonade with bubbles, and what harsh bubbles they are. It's very strong, so unlike most Arizona drinks it's a sipping drink and not a gulper. I don't think it really needs to be in such a large can, but hey that's Arizona's thing, so I'll let them have it.

Arizona just keeps expanding their beverage lines. They have come out with at least a dozen new flavors this summer alone. I have a feeling that they may have more drinks available for purchase in the United States than any other company. Okay, I'm sure Coke or Pepsi has more if you count all their subsidiaries, but each of these proudly states that it is an Arizona product. Sure a decent amount of these drinks leave something to be desired, but a good portion of them are straight up pleasant.

After some success with their Jack Nicklaus Golden Bear line of lemonades they decided to expand a little and released this mint lemonade. Mint is a hard game to play. It's so easy to get overzealous and leave the consumer feeling like they are drinking something whilst chewing gum, or shortly after brushing their teeth. No one wants that, especially not the Golden Bear himself. In this formula Arizona decided to take it easy on the mint, so that there is just a hint in each sip. The lemonade itself isn't all that bitter, due to the use of HFCS, but it's something I can get around a lot of the time and in this instance, I can even thoroughly enjoy. This is a nice treat that would cool anyone down on a hot summer day on the greens.

Grab any kid who went to basement shows in Buffalo from 1999-2003 and ask them what their favorite drink from Frank's Mobil was at that time. You will probably here one of two things: Fikes Iced Tea or Arizona Arnold Palmer tall boy. The latter is what we'll be focusing on today. Granted I don't drink them as often now, but I would easily drink 1-2 a day back then. The lemonade and iced tea just mixed perfectly together for those sweaty basement show nights.

Given my love for Arnold Palmer's and my willingness to try any energy drink, you can imagine my excitement when I found this at a grocery store near Cincinnati. Good news for energy drink haters, it doesn't taste like an energy drink. In fact, I can only taste the lemonade and iced tea. And just like the original, it is delicious! While it's not the greatest half and half I've had, this is one of the best energy drinks I've had so far.

Keep up the good work Arizona! I'd love to see more flavors of this.

Here we are with the last one. Four cans, four flavors, four ridiculous pictures of Shaq's face and four drinks left ¾ unfinished. As has been said about the other flavors, these should be great. They are all natural, and Arizona is a company with a pretty good track record. These just fall short though. The first couple of sips are decent enough, but then it all just goes downhill and the good aspects of the flavor get lost. Seriously, this is an orange cream soda that is made with actual orange juice; it should be amazing and not this fizzy can of sub-mediocrity that site before me.

I've narrowed it down and the problem with these is that the taste of the vanilla and whatever fruit is flavoring it (in this case it's orange) doesn't stick around long enough. They remain on your tongue for but a brief moment and then you're just left with a sweet fizzyness that has hints of honey. It needs a stronger, long lasting flavor to pull you through such a large can.

I know a lot of people who were excited when these came out, but not a single one of them have enjoyed the soda. I'm sure once the summer ends these will fade into obscurity and never resurface again.

We can all agree that green tea is great, correct? Out of all the teas in the world that I have tasted it can stand the highest on it's own; no sweeteners, no added flavors, just tea leaves boiled in water and left to cool. It's wonderful, it's refreshing and it's all I really need. I mean I like more, but I don't need it.

I'm assuming with their Tea Water line Arizona is trying to make a lighter tea, that doesn't have as many calories as their regular line, but doing so without using zero calorie sweeteners that effect the taste a lot, no matter what anyone says. I appreciate what they are going for here. There is almost always far too much sugar in drinks these days, and I certainly enjoy a light tea. What I have a problem with was the solution they came up with. They may have started using a lower tea to water ratio so that it was a weaker tea and added less sugar to the result, but I'm willing to wager that they brewed a regular batch of their green tea and watered it down to nearly nothing. The end result is a watered down tea that is slightly sweet, but in the way that tastes like you watered it down yourself, not before it was sweetened. The small amount of sugar used tastes stretched out. I imagine the sugar feels like Marty McFly when his hand starts fading away. It's uncertain as to whether it will still exist at all by the end of the bottle.

I myself prefer a stronger tea, but I have no major qualms with the weaker variety. It is my humble belief that they should have forgone the sweetener altogether. The use of no sweetener as compared to very little washed out sweetener would have made this far more enjoying. It wouldn't have seemed like they were trying to pull one over on the consumer by just stretching their beverages. They could have watered down the tea a bit more to keep the Tea Water name. I'm sure that was a marketing ploy. In a world where Vitamin Water reigns supreme at gas stations, something called “Tea Water” would probably spark more interest then something that says “Unsweetened Tea.”

I will say that I do really enjoy the yumberry flavor to this. Light everything in the drink it's light. I appreciate that this is all organic and it's really that trace amount of sugar that is bringing this whole line down.

I don't get it. I just don't get it. Arizona is a company that makes decent beverages. Sure, most of the time they taste a little cheap, but you know what you're getting into, and for the size to price ratio, it's great. They decided to move into the soda world, and did a nice job with their Lime Rickey line. Then they decided to make a variety of cream sodas that are endorsed by Shaq. They even used real sugar to sweeten them, which is rare for the company. Actually it's an all natural soda. All of these things pointed towards a truly enjoyable drinking experience. So, what went wrong?

I've tasted a plethora of cream sodas in my day, and I think this may be the first one I've ever met that I just couldn't finish. Of course this is a much larger quantity, but I couldn't even make it through a third of the can. That's less than 8oz. Like the blueberry variety I thought it tasted nice enough of the first few sips, but then I just couldn't handle any more. Also like the blueberry I blame the honey, which is strange because I love honey in pop. The problem with it is the aftertaste of the honey is almost as strong as the initial vanilla flavor. Maybe it's just that the vanilla flavor is too weak. If they increased the vanilla, the honey wouldn't stand out so much. It's also doesn't taste as sweet as cream soda normally does, which is strange because there is a decent amount of sugar in here (way more than one should ingest in one sitting).

This is a soda that had me excited, but in the end it just left me wanting more. Well, not wanting more of it, but wanting a better version of it. Shaq retired from basketball, and not perhaps it's time for him to retire from soda as well, after a very short time in the limelight.

I don't remember these ever being in stores. They were always just on sale at a "bargain basement" type place. I love those places. It's like the graveyard for forgotten drinks. Well some are forgotten, some are overstock, and some are plain gross.

I have also drunk three of these without reviewing them. Why? Because I had them and the timing wasn't right. No, the timing wasn't right. Yeah, I just quoted Big D and the Kids Table. Warped Tour is tomorrow and although I won't be there, they will and kids will (hopefully) enjoy them.

Sure, Warped Tour is what made me fall in love with Hansen's, I guarantee that this Arizona Tea Water would have been better for me. It's super low in calories and really, without exaggeration, just tastes like really watered down, sweet green tea. I found it refreshing and it had just enough flavor that it wasn't like I used an old cup of something and didn't have time to clean it out, an action that is pretty my speed.

All you kids have fun at Warped Tour this summer. It's going to be hot and everyone is going to be sweaty. Drink lots of water and have a good time. Also, you are running out of time to listen to the back catalog of Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, The Aquabats, and The Ataris so you can successfully sing along.

My first thought when I saw this was “Dammit, why doesn't this exist in a non diet form?!” Seriously white cranberry-apple green tea? That just sounds like a wonderful treat. It is always the diet drinks that have the extravagant flavors though isn't it? They are probably trying to make up for the lack of calories, and more importantly the gross diet flavor.

I ended up taking this with me to a party, because I was assuming I wouldn't like it all that much, due to the sucralose, and it would help me to not down it all instantly. As you can probably guess, that didn't work out well for me. While this does have the sucralose undertones, it is played down by the other flavors. It's one of those drinks that you can tell is diet, but you still like it anyways. Arizona is not trying to trick you into thinking that this isn't a zero calorie beverage, they are just saying, “So what? It still tastes great doesn't it?”

Arizona was my gateway into green tea, but the thing is their green tea has a very specific taste that other companies' versions don't. I don't know if it's the excessive sweeteners or what, but they do it their own way, and it is enjoyable in its own way. So that is the sucralose-laden base here. Then, they added a soft cran-apple flavor to it. I say flavor, because there is no juice whatsoever in this bottle, but I can forgive them that. Before I knew what was happening I had polished off the bottle, and I was left wishing I had more. It was pouring out, so I was left to drink a lone bottle of Coke that was meant for mixer drinks. I planned that out poorly.

You know, when people put their names on things, it can go one of two ways. In this case, I'm assuming against everyone's assumptions, it went swimmingly.

Look, Shaq seems like a well-rounded guy, a kid at heart. You know the man loves Superman, right, like an immense amount? Of course he would have a giant can of strawberry cream soda. Only a kid or a seven and a half foot tall man would think that a tallboy of pop is a great idea. Oh, look. It is a great idea because it tastes great but it's a great idea in a standard issue can. This is three people's worth of pop. I'm probably drinking two people's worth but it is really good. It's smooth and strawberry. I think those guys at Arizona are really up to something. Jay said that the blueberry was good for four sips and then he needed a break. I might be in the same boat but the cycle of four sips, break, repeat is quite reinviting. I kept coming back time and time again. There is honey in there but it was only there if you really thought about it.

After drinking this I just want to have sex with basketball players or Greeks.

Is Shaq really that relevant in this day and age that he should be the spokesman for a drink? When was the last time this man made any sort of news? I mean it's been almost a decade since his Shaq Fu album came out and he's retired from basketball. I simply do not understand the reason for handing over a bunch of money to someone who is no longer in the spotlight, especially for a company that is already so established. I can only hope that the owner is just a huge basketball fan and Shaq was his favorite player of all time, so this is a dream come true for him (or her).

Even though I don't understand the endorsement, I was very intrigued by the idea of a blueberry cream soda. I've never tried one before, and it sounded wonderful. With one sip I knew that I had been correct. This was amazing. Then, about four sips later, I changed my mind. While this is great for a couple of sips, it becomes too much very quickly. Shaq is a big man, and this comes in a big can, and it's more than anyone would ever need. Everything was in place for this to be great: It's sweetened with real sugar, it has actual blueberry juice in it, the cream flavoring was from bourbon vanilla extract, and it had honey in it. I normally love honey in drinks, but I think it might have been the downfall this time around. There is something a little off with the taste that is not blueberry or vanilla and the only thing I can think of is the honey.

I let this sit twice and then went back for a couple more sips hours apart and each time I really enjoyed it for the first couple of sips, and then it would go south again. It's a shame. I will say that I do love the artwork on the can. It's goofy and wonderful, and it uses halftones in the best way.