Hard Tea: A Sweet Opportunity for Breweries and Beverage Companies | First Key

No good idea goes unnoticed in the beverage industry. Hard seltzers and hazy IPAs quickly went from brainstorms to behemoths, bandwagons sagging with brands capitalizing on the latest buzz. Hard tea is the story of a slowly growing giant that totaled more than $1.1 billion in sales in the 52 weeks ending April 1, according to NielsenIQ, an increase of more than 39 percent.

The category leader—and creator—is Boston Beer Company’s easy-drinking Twisted Tea, which debuted in 2001 and has steadily grown sales each year. Twisted Tea controls more than 90 percent of the category, and the brand family’s sales are up more than 30 percent in that same period, dominating shelf placements.

“When you go into a store, there’s a shelf of Twisted Tea, or two shelves; in some cases, in real core markets, even a door of it,” Boston Beer chairman Jim Koch said in an April earnings call.

Competitors aren’t conceding. In recent years, scores of companies have started making hard tea, from national brewers like Lagunitas (Disorderly TeaHouse) to regional plays like WeldWerks Brewing’s Colorado-only Giddy Up. Cideries have also turned to tea, including 2 Towns Ciderhouse (imperial-strength TeaREX Killer Tea) and Stormalong Cider (nitrogenated Vital Sign), not to mention a growing range of NA-to-boozy crossovers. Care for a koozie with your cans of Lipton Hard Iced Tea?

For First Key, I take a deep dive into the state of hard tea.