Minute Maid Just Put Vodka in Its Lemonade and Iced Tea

Minute Maid has officially decided lemonade and iced tea need a little something extra.

Videos by Sporked

Minute Maid Spiked, the brand’s ready-to-drink alcohol line, is adding Vodka Lemonade Iced Tea to its lineup. It’s exactly what it sounds like: lemonade, iced tea, and vodka in a single can, rolling out nationwide this summer. The brand itself is calling it a “no duh” addition, which is refreshingly honest for a product announcement.

And if you didn’t know Minute Maid made alcohol at all, you’re about to learn a lot.

Minute Maid Makes Booze?

It does, and it has for a while. Minute Maid Spiked is a separate ready-to-drink line from the orange juice you grew up on, produced under Red Tree Beverages, a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company. The products also carry a 21+ logo on the packaging, so nobody mistakes them for the breakfast-table stuff.

The new Vodka Lemonade Iced Tea slots into a portfolio that’s already bigger than you’d expect, which we’ll get to. But the short version is that Minute Maid has built out a whole spiked lineup and this is the latest entry.

What’s Actually In The Can?

The Vodka Lemonade Iced Tea is a no-fizz drink made with real vodka and 3% lemon juice, landing at 5% ABV. It’s essentially the classic lemonade-and-iced-tea combination with vodka already mixed in, making it a ready-to-drink take on the kind of drink you might otherwise make yourself.

It’s a familiar combination, which is clearly the point. Nobody’s being asked to develop a taste for anything new here.

It comes in two formats: an 8-pack of 12-ounce cans at a suggested retail price of $16.99 and a 16-ounce single can at $3.49. Both are rolling out nationwide.

It Joins A Surprisingly Large Lineup

Here’s where it gets busier than you’d guess. The Vodka Lemonade Iced Tea joins Minute Maid Spiked’s existing Vodka Lemonade offerings, which come in Classic and Pink. There’s also a Vodka Punch range in Classic, Tropical, Berry, and Citrus.

And that’s just the vodka side. Minute Maid Spiked also makes wine-based cocktails in Lime Margarita, Strawberry Daiquiri, Piña Colada, and Blue Hawaiian, sold in everything from 1.5-liter glass bottles down to 200-milliliter mini cans. So the brand you associate with juice boxes is now doing full-size margarita bottles. Times change.

Should You Grab One?

If you like lemonade and iced tea and don’t object to vodka being involved, this is a pretty low-risk purchase. At 5% ABV and with no carbonation, it’s aimed squarely at backyard barbecues, pool days, and the general category of drinks you sip slowly outdoors. It’s not trying to reinvent anything, which is sort of the whole pitch.

The Vodka Lemonade Iced Tea is available nationwide this summer, so it’s on shelves now rather than a coming-soon situation.

If your idea of a good summer drink is lemonade, iced tea, and not having to make either yourself, Minute Maid has read the room.