Budding Products: Starbucks Commits To Tea Concoction and More New Product News

Menu News

Shaken Iced Tea Takes Residence on Starbucks Menu

Photo Credit: Starbucks
Starbucks is adding fruit-steeped tea beverages to its permanent menu. Teavana Shaken Iced Tea Infusions are comprised of tea, botanical blends and fruit, and then mildly sweetened with liquid cane sugar. The teas are free of artificial flavors, and a 16-ounce tea has only 45 calories. The three flavors, Strawberry Green Tea, Peach Citrus White Tea and Pineapple Black Tea, will be offered at participating Starbucks throughout the year. “The fruit and botanical blends of pineapple, peach citrus and strawberry take the place of sweeteners for a lighter mouthfeel and more delicate flavor than other iced tea beverages,” said Starbucks product developer Megan Droz in a company press release. “It’s possible to mix and match the different infusions because the flavors are all complementary to our core Teavana black, green, herbal and white teas.”  
RTD News

Suja Launches Kombucha at Costco        

Photo courtesy of Suja
Oceanside, California-based holistic health beverage company Suja now has a collection of four flavors of kombucha, each of which incorporates a different adaptogenic herb. The flavors are: Ginger, which contains ashwagandha; Green, containing moringa; Berry, which has schizandra, and Peach, containing reishi mushroom. Suja kept sugar levels low, as Ginger contains only 7 grams per serving. So far, the Ginger kombucha is available at Costco locations in San Diego, Texas and the Midwest. In September, the Ginger Kombucha  as well as the remaining three varieties in the line will be distributed in Target. Suja’s kombucha collection adds to the company’s assortment of organic beverages that includes drinking vinegars and cold-pressed juices.    
Tea Food News

Haagen-Dazs Makes a Green Tea Ice Cream Sandwich

Photo by Casey Baseel
Haagen-Dazs made a creative ice cream sandwich that people will have to travel to Japan to purchase, reports Sora News 24. The new Green Tea Cream Azuki Crispy Sandwich by Haagen-Dazs is comprised of two crumbly wafers with a filling of green tea ice cream and sweet red azuki beans. Bright green matcha-infused white chocolate coats the ice cream. The combination merges sweet and bitter flavors. This dessert represents one more way in which a company is innovating with its products as matcha becomes ever more popular. Japanese grocery stores carry the ice cream sandwich, which is usually priced at 294 yen ($2.65).