Just Ice Tea’s new beverage lineup, Awaken, resembles an energy drink in its packaging, messaging and high caffeine content, but that’s where the similarities end, according to Co-founder and CEO Seth Goldman.
The cold brew tea lineup launching in mid-November includes 120 milligrams of caffeine per can – roughly double the caffeine found in a typical Just Ice Tea – and delivers an “energizing lift for consumers” in search of an alternative to energy drinks and sugary coffee beverages, according to a Just Ice Tea press release.
“It’s the first drink [by Just Ice Tea] that taps into the energy occasion, but we’re not calling it an energy drink,” Goldman said in an interview.
He described the product as the crossover section in a venn diagram of tea and energy drinks. “This might be where the two fuse to get a bit of overlap,” he said.
Caffeine and clean
The new drink line includes three varieties, Strawberry Spark, Tropical Takeoff and Honeydew Lime Lift and is made with Fair Trade Certified ingredients, a hallmark of Goldman’s food products spanning several decades.
All three drinks include a blend of yerba mate, organic white tea and green tea leaves, organic fruit juice and no artificial sweeteners, the company said.
“As a chef, I’m always looking for new ways to experiment with ingredients and create exciting flavor combinations,” said Spike Mendelsohn, Just Ice Tea co-founder and chief brewmaster of Just Ice Tea. “We saw how popular cold brew coffee had become and realized there was an opportunity to bring that same approach to tea. By combining our fresh brewing process with creative recipes, we’ve developed a delicious, smooth-tasting tea that delivers a more balanced lift without the crash.”
The lineup might distinguish itself in the energy drink sector more by what it doesn’t contain than by what it does. Goldman said the company has made a point to avoid ingredients commonly found in energy drinks.
“I remember the first time I tasted a Red Bull, which was probably more than 25 years ago. It was like, whoa, that’s a lot. I understand the caffeine boost, but I don’t necessarily need all that other other stuff to get some caffeine,” he said.
Cold brew for a smooth taste
Tea as a “delicate-tasting” beverage, which raises the question: How do you deliver extra caffeine with tea, Goldman explained.
“We chose not to hot brew because you’re going to pull all the tannins forward, and it’s going to have a bitter taste to it,” he said. “By cold brewing it, we’re able to get the full extraction and the caffeine and a smooth taste.”
Unlike the hot brew process used to make most teas, where water temperatures reach 190 degrees for about 10 minutes, Goldman said Awaken’s cold brew process uses water heated to 45 degrees for 24 hours to get the full caffeine extraction without releasing bitter tannins.
Brewers then add more caffeine to the drink, but most of the ingredient is derived from the original brew, Goldman said.
A comeback for tea?
Just Ice Tea is Goldman’s second tea label after his original brand, Honest Tea, which he launched in 1998. He sold Honest Teat to Coca-Cola in 2011, and the company discontinued the product line in 2022.
Goldman said Just Ice Tea is growing despite the ready-to-drink (RTD) tea industry slump.
“If we want to keep growing in a declining category, we need to bring in new people,” he said.
In the early days of Honest Tea, many of his customers were former soft drink consumers looking for an alternative.
“Here we have to bring some energy drink people over as well,” he said.
Just in time for the holidays
The drink lineup hits store shelves nationwide on Nov. 13, and will be available exclusively at Whole Foods Market for the first three months, Goldman said.
The company will also be promoting the drink lineup at Natural Products Expo West in 2027, he said.
