When it comes to a refreshing summer beverage, the battle between lemonade and iced tea is one that is ongoing. From the tart lemon beverage to the flavorful infused tea drinks, these thirst-quenching beverages have filled summer coolers for years.
But the question still remains, which is better — lemonade or iced tea?
At Beverage Universe, it would seem the customers can’t decide, either. These top-selling drinks fly off the shelves when thirsty patrons need an ice cold, refreshing beverage. When people can’t choose between the two, they simply choose both with a half lemonade, half iced tea mix.
Both drinks have been a tradition for centuries, with lemonade tracing its origins as far back as early Egypt and tea making its way around the world from China to Europe and the southern United States, where its sweetened versions have been enjoyed by generations.
Which is your favorite to reach for? If you still can’t decide, our lemonade and iced tea comparisons should help confirm your love for one of the tasty drinks, or maybe tempt you to try a different one.
Lemonade vs. Iced Tea: Health Comparison
- Lemonade
This beverage comes in a variety of versions, from clear lemonade without sugar to super sweet varieties to satisfy the strongest sweet tooth. With a lot of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, healthy lemonade can be challenging to find. Fruit juice concentrate also tends to carry a good bit of added sugar and acidity. Consumers also should keep an eye out for artificial colors and preservatives.
A glass usually comes with a dose of Vitamin C, which is great for keeping your immune system healthy and strong.
- Iced tea
Similar to its sweet citrus brother, iced tea can contain a boatload of sugar and added calories. Flavored versions also might include artificial flavors and colors. The bright side is that many iced teas come in unsweetened versions or are naturally sweetened with honey. Also, iced tea is packed with antioxidants and some versions, such as green and white tea, have been found to have weight loss benefits.
Winner: Iced tea, thanks to its health benefits and less-sweet versions.
Lemonade vs. Iced Tea: Comparison of Reach
- Lemonade
Some popular lemonade brands have made it pretty far as a beverage option. Minute Made Lemonade is served at many fast food chains, including Sonic, McDonald’s, Burger King and other places where Coca-Cola products are sold. In fact, Coca-Cola has largely grown thanks to Minute Made Lemonade, which has become a billion dollar product in countries around the world.
Also in the lemonade market, Apple and Eve Lemonade, known for its fresh-squeezed products, has become popular with kids and teenagers. Parents looking to give their children natural juices often turn to this brand.
The NPD Group, a consumer research firm, reported 1.4 billion servings of lemonade were sold from April 2014 to April 2015. That’s a 3 percent jump from the previous year’s calculations. Some restaurants even give away lemonade on days when the temperature reaches a record-breaking high as part of a promotion. Who wouldn’t want to slurp down one of the most refreshing beverages on a scorching hot day?
- Iced Tea
In 2014, Americans consumed more than 3.6 billion gallons of tea. It’s so popular, it’s considered one of the most widely consumed beverages in addition to water.
Arizona Tea, which came on the market as a cheaper tea beverage in 1992, has become a popular drink for many consumers. Its Arnold Palmer line, the perfect half lemonade and half iced tea mix, soon followed as a truce between the two beverage options.
Another brand, Snapple, was known as the “official beverage of New York City.” A few revamps that included the removal of high-fructose corn syrup and a newly designed bottle helped the beverage transform with consumers over the years.
Winner: Iced tea, for its versatility and affordability.
Lemonade vs. Iced Tea: Flavor Options
- Lemonade
Beverage Universe offers a variety of lemonade flavors. Our products include:
- Original lemonade, strawberry lemonade, lemonade with mint, elderflower and rose lemonade, sparkling lemonade, organic lemonade, lemon limey, berry lemonade, blackberry lemonade, cherry lime lemonade, diet lemonade, lemonade honey, lemonade mango, limeade, orangeade, black cherry lemonade and peach lemonade.
- Iced tea
The iced team options at Beverage World are just as diverse. Flavors include:
- Carolina honey, green tea ginger twist, hibiscus tea, pomegranate tea, white tea acai, plum green tea, blueberry white tea, green tea with ginseng and honey, lemon iced tea, peach iced tea, diet raspberry iced tea, Georgia peach iced tea, mandarin orange green tea, raspberry iced tea, sweet tea, brasilia blueberry, Malawi mango, trop-a-rocka tea, strawberry red iced tea, green tea with coconut and more.
- Half and half
The number of half lemonade and half iced tea options at Beverage Universe almost make this content obsolete. The question of lemonade or iced tea almost doesn’t have to be considered when you can have both. Plus, there is strawberry lemonade with tea, diet lemonade with iced tea and several other flavor options to tempt you.
Winner: A tie, because when you can’t choose one or the other, you can always get both.
Lemonade vs. Iced Tea: Which Mixes Best with Cocktails
- Lemonade
Lemonade is not only a refreshing beverage, it’s tasty with a little bit of booze, too. No matter the kind of liquor you prefer, there are plenty of tasty lemonade cocktails to help add some diversity to your lemonade options. A sparkling bourbon lemonade is tasty with your favorite brand of bourbon, club soda and a few sprigs of mint.
Try skipping the lime in your margarita and reach for lemon instead, to give it a lemonade twist. Frozen lemonade with coconut rum is a tropical concoction sure to have you dreaming of the beach. If liquor isn’t your favorite mix, try beer, mixing a bottle with half lemonade for a classic shandy.
- Iced tea
Nothing says summer quite like sweet tea and bourbon. This classic country cocktail will be passed around on front porches for many summers to come once you whip up a batch.
Try some fruit-infused vodkas, such as peach, blackberry or strawberry, to give your iced tea a fruity twist. Fresh fruit sliced up and muddled on the bottom of the glass makes it extra special.
And of course, there is always an Arnold Palmer, which mixes the delicious flavors of both iced tea and lemonade, as well as bourbon or another liquor of choice, for a delicious adult drink.
Winner: Lemonade wins this round because it’s more versatile in cocktails and, hey, you can’t even make an Arnold Palmer without it.
Lemonade vs. Iced Tea: Brands That Make Them
- Lemonade
Beverage Universe has a variety of brands ready to showcase their tasty lemonade concoctions. The brands include:
- Apple and Eve, Argo, Arnold Palmer, Bai 5, BeeSweet, Belvoir, Boylan’s, Snapple, Diet Snapple, Fuze, Gold Peak, Harney and Sons, Honest Fizz, Hubert’s, Inko’s, Minute Maid, Minute Maid Lite, Monster, Natural Nantucket Nectars, New Leaf, Purity, R.W. Knudsen, Runa, Skinnygirl, Sparkling ICE, Steaz, Teas Tea Plus and Vitamin Water.
As varied as the lemonade brands, Beverage World’s iced tea brands include:
- Argo, Arizona Tea, Arnold Palmer, Arizona Diet, AZ Energy, Bai 5, Snapple, Diet Snapple, Freight, Fuze, Gold Peak, Harney and Sons, Honest Mate, Honest Tea, Honeydrop, Inko’s, ITO EN, Jin+Ja, Lipton Brisk, Lipton Diet, Lipton Pure Leaf, Matcha, Mistic Drinks, Nestea, Nestea Diet, New Leaf, Runa, Sparkling ICE, Steaz, Taste Nirvana, Tazo, Teas Tea and Titan Tea,
Winner: Iced tea clearly has more brands and options when it comes to selection.
Lemonade vs. Iced Tea: Which to Keep in the Pantry
- Lemonade
While some people might not think of using this sweetened drink to make dinner, it can be a great addition to recipes. Try lemonade in a marinade for fish or chicken. It also goes great in frosting for cakes and cookies, and can brighten up heavier dishes with its light, fragrant addition. Use it to cook rice for a new twist on your favorite dishes, or make a lemonade sauce for vegetables.
- Iced tea
A little tricky to work with in recipes, iced tea also can add unique flavor to traditional dishes. Try tea in shortbread cookie recipes, as a marinade for steak or an addition to ice cream and frozen treats. Teas fused with fruit also can add an extra punch to everyday meals. As you would add lemonade to frosting, tea also can add an earthy, herbal flavor to otherwise super-sweet dishes. Iced tea also adds a unique flavor to smoothies, as well as a boost of caffeine.
Mix some tea into sorbet to mellow out the traditionally sweet treat. It also goes great with poached fruit that can be a topping for ice cream.
Winner: Lemonade, which is more versatile and easy to work into recipes naturally. Plus, most people are most accustomed to a lemon flavor in foods.
Lemonade vs. Iced tea: The Most Refreshing
- Lemonade
Many people sitting outside on a hot day envision icy, sweaty glasses of lemonade awaiting their parched lips. Why is this frosty beverage what summer dreams are made of? It turns out we seek acidic beverages because they help our mouths water, keeping us cool and refreshed. There’s nothing like a dry mouth to make you feel like you’re stuck in the desert. It’s even said American settlers drank vinegar water (an unappetizing alternative) to try to cool down in the summer heat.
Sweetened versions, however, can make us just as thirsty. So try to cut back on sugar-y varieties.
- Iced tea
People who don’t like the taste, or lack of taste, in plain water often reach for iced tea as a hydrating alternative. It turns out the health benefits in tea, including antioxidants and other components that can promote weight loss, productivity and increased energy, are very helpful to some people. Iced tea, however, is often more refreshing when accompanied by fruit. Maybe it’s the body’s desire to get that acid that produces saliva, or maybe we just like how it tastes.
Winner: Lemonade, for being the classic, thirst-quenching beverage of America.
Lemonade vs. Iced Tea: Why Not Have Both?
If our comparison just left you craving both the citrus refreshment of lemonade and the robust flavors of iced tea, there’s no need to pick just one. An Arnold Palmer, the classic twist of these two favorites, has plenty of options for people who want both beverages in one.
With so many Arnold Palmer options, from diet to fruit flavors, it’s easy to see how this beverage combination became so popular. Fill a tall, frosty glass with ice and pour your favorite Arnold Palmer combination to the brim.
Named after Arnold Daniel Palmer, a retired national golfer, this drink is a refreshing treat for athletes and thirsty people everywhere. The story goes that Palmer was at the U.S. Open in 1960 when he ordered the non-alcoholic drink from the bar, giving instructions for the beverage he had often enjoyed at home for years. When a woman overheard his beverage order, she asked for the drink Palmer requested, giving the tasty twist its modern name and legacy.
By combining the sweet, citrus flavors of lemonade with the mellower, calming flavors of iced tea, this drink carries the refreshing health benefits of each beverage. Plus, the taste is a popular combination people have been mixing for years.
Plus, additional flavors are often found in this lemonade-iced tea mixture, such as fruit combinations, mint and other tasty twists.
Lemonade vs. Iced Tea: Choose for Yourself
Can’t decide on which drink is your favorite? Not to worry. Sometimes you just have to try it for yourself. If you can’t choose which brand or flavor you might like, check out Beverage Universe’s product reviews to help you narrow down the options and choose the drink best for you. Whether you’re leaning toward lemonade, iced tea or the combination of the two, Beverage Universe is a one-stop shop for all your beverage needs.
Don’t worry about running to the grocery store the next time you need to stock up on your favorite drinks. Beverage Universe delivers right to your door, whether you live in a house, apartment or want to keep your office stocked. We also can help you set up repeat orders so you never run out or have to remind yourself to reorder when your supplies get low.
In addition to lemonade, iced tea and Arnold Palmers, Beverage Universe has plenty of specialty drink items to choose from, including hard-to-find organic drinks, diet options and seltzers. If you don’t see something you like, ask us how we can help you find it.
Are you interested in our Sparkling Juices?
