#New #Lipton #IcedTea Tropical Flavor #ProductReview: #Juice #Stevia #NationalIcedTeaDay

Back on National Iced Tea Day, Lipton ran a promotion giving away coupons for a Free 20oz Lipton Iced Tea (single serve). I visited the giveaway site, filled out the form and several weeks later received said coupon in the mail. My sister redeemed the coupon on my behalf as she was heading to the store. (It's nice to have siblings who actually LIKE going out shopping in Brick & Mortar retail stores --- since I don't --- and who live relatively close by.) I'd asked her to grab whatever looked interesting and she delivered a New Lipton Iced Tea Tropical Flavor with Other Natural Flavors with a Splash of Juice.

Product: Lipton Iced Tea Tropical Flavor, with Other Natural Flavors, with a Splash of Juice, 20oz bottle.

You'd think with this mouthful of a label name that it would taste amazing, but you'd be wrong. It was merely OK. Like most things sweetened with stevia it had a noticeable aftertaste.

"I can eat stevia plant leaves just fine. In fact, my first taste of stevia was actually fresh picked out of a friend's garden. But sadly, no-one has figured out how to process stevia commercially without the resulting product having a bitter aftertaste. And yes, I've tried the products that say "no stevia aftertaste." It's still there, perhaps fainter than in other products, but noticeable to my taste-buds."

Anywho, back to the product trial: For all the flavors and splash of juice, it was a rather weak tea. I could taste the flavor of the tea itself distinctively, as if it was fresh brewed, so that's a point in its favor. As Lipton is well regarded tea brand, I'd expect no less. I wouldn't seek to purchase this again --- not my cup bottle of tea! I'm a Southerner and a Sweet Tea enthusiast (this means real sugar, hon). I don't expect this particular product to go over well in the deep South, but we cotton to Lipton well enough, as a brand.

Lookout For Coke's New Iconic State Flavors #Beverages #Soda

Coke State Flavors

Some time ago, I received an email from the Coca-Cola Company touting its new Coke variations, based upon iconic State flavors. There were like 4 flavors in the first batch which were mentioned in the email, but of course, the only two I recall are Georgia Peach and California Raspberry, my dual home states. I have yet to see any of them in-store, but then again, I seldom go out to shop Brick & Mortar any longer. I'm almost exclusively an online shopper.

A friend recently spotted some of these sodas in the wild -- quaintly, he still shops in physical stores -- and was kind enough to text me a shelfie of Georgia and California side by side. I'm curious to try them. Apparently they contain natural fruit flavors and pure cane sugar like "Mexican" Coke.

What other flavors should Coke include in the line? Have you tried any of the flavors already available? What did you think?

#SadStore Run @BestBuy #BrickandMortar

I am an online shopper. I would guess that roughly 98% of my purchases originate online. (And it has been this way for over a decade.) As a result, I haven't been out to a general non-grocery Brick & Mortar store in some time. (I still sometimes go to grocery stores, or at least Farmer's Markets, though less frequently with each passing month.) But tonight I rode out with my sister to the closest Best Buy store as we each had received, as a gift from Best Buy, a $10.00 promotional gift code via email which was only good through the end of this week. (My non-techie sister doesn't shop online as much as I do. She still goes out to stores.)

$10.00 Best Buy Promotional Gift Code

I couldn't believe how sad this store looked. The stock displays in the movie section were abysmal. Barely anything on the shelves and what was there was in a seemingly random order. The entire store layout seemed completely haphazard. It was pitiful. To top it off, the free WiFi had the weakest signal of all the available networks, which rather defeats the point of offering in-store WiFi to your customers. I told my sister, "No wonder everyone shops online. If this is what you're confronted with." I remember back in the day being able to go to Best Buy and spend hours just wandering around checking gadgets, testing products, etc.. No more. I could not exit this store fast enough. I'm still shaking my head in amazement at how the mighty have fallen. I'm SHOCKED.

I still shop at Best Buy... but ONLINE. Guess Brick & Mortar stores really are going the way of the dinosaurs. I hope this was some sort of aberration, but I fear not. If one takes this store as an example, we're witnessing the end of an era.