High Noon is expanding its portfolio with its first-ever hard tea. The brand announced on Monday that High Noon Vodka Iced Tea — made with vodka, iced tea, and no added sugar — is now available on shelves nationwide.
High Noon Vodka Iced Tea is available in four flavors (original, peach, lemon, and raspberry) with 90 calories and 4.5 percent ABV per 12-ounce can. A deviation from the line’s traditional seltzers, the new offerings are non-carbonated, and are the Spirit of Gallo-owned brand’s first foray into the hard tea category.
“Hard tea was one of consumers’ most frequent RTD category purchased in 2023, which created an opportunity for High Noon to provide a premium alternative in a way only the brand can with real vodka and real iced tea,” Britt West, executive vice president and general manager at Gallo said in the release. “With this launch, we’ve taken a beloved classic and elevated it to new heights, delivering a beverage that embodies the spirit of summer in every sip.”
After launching in 2019, the premium hard seltzer brand quickly catapulted in popularity as an outdoor drinking and party staple. Just four years after its debut, High Noon was dubbed the No. 1 spirits brand by volume in the U.S. Last year, it made its foray into spirits beyond vodka with the launch of High Noon Tequila Seltzer.
Several other well-known beverage companies have launched spiked tea products over the past few years — including Lipton, Dunkin’, Peace Tea, and even Monster Energy — taking on the category’s long-standing leader: Twisted Tea. Other smaller startups have also been making a splash in the category, notably the fast-growing line Surfside. The Philadelphia-based brand launched in 2022 with several flavors of canned iced tea and vodka cocktails. Surfside has since experienced rapid growth, selling 1.3 million cases in 2023 and recently announcing a national expansion and launch of five new flavors. When asked about the brand’s rapid growth, Surfside CEO Clement Pappas told Beer Business Daily that they wanted to be the first vodka iced tea to the market, acknowledging yet another competitor: Boston Beer-backed Sun Cruiser.
While High Noon’s latest launch signals good things for the growth of the hard tea space, the line’s massive presence could cause trouble for smaller brands just breaking into the category. High Noon Vodka Iced Tea is now available in 8-packs sold at $19.99.
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