Okay, so I seem to have lost the photo I took of the bottle,
here's one swiped off their website. My bottle was this shape,
but the flavor was "Lemon Iced Tea".
here's one swiped off their website. My bottle was this shape,
but the flavor was "Lemon Iced Tea".
Turkey Hill Iced Tea - Lemon Flavored
I've seen Turkey Hill stuff around for some time. They make ice cream, and I believe I've seen Turkey Hill convenience stores in Pennsylvania, I think they had Slurpee type dispensers there, too. In NYC I see the teas in the medium to large sized supermarkets, but had never actually seen anyone drink one till an evening of games at a pal's house.
It was a bad evening, I lost at Power Grid and Around the World in 80 Days.
Early in that dismal evening, a brother-in-law of my host showed up with a bottle of Turkey Hill Iced Tea. Someone said something about him being addicted to the stuff. That sparked my interest and moved the Turkey Hill onto my "acquisitions" list, an item I checked off just today.
My first drink almost made me vomit. Once again, I drank something without reading the fine print on the back instructing me to "shake well". Bah. That first sip was pure, unflavored syrupy sweetness. Horrible.
A good shaking makes the stuff much more bearable, but still not great. Not bad, but not very tea like. It tastes alot like the instant powdered iced teas I grew up with, and that ain't a great thing tea wise. The real pull of this stuff is in the sugar/caffeine rush, I think. Drinking about a cups worth puts me in race car mode. Brrrrrrrummm-bum-bum-bmmmmmmmmm. Honestly, the taste is only about half a pip less good than Snapple Lemon Tea, and it isn't really that it's worse but just different in a slightly less desirable way.
It's much more mellow than Snapple, that's for certain.
The bottle art is pretty tacky, with a poorly drawn polar bear wearing sun glasses and a scarf, hugging himself for warmth. He's there to illustrate that it's "cold fashioned for freshness". On the back they boast that the stuff is kept cold throughout the entire process. Wait, they DON'T say that. The cold part starts at the bottling, it's supposedly kept cold from then on. I confess I was suspicious of any tea that could be made cold.
It's sad to think that in another decade or two it might be in bad taste to use polar bears in advertising.
The side of the bottle has a relief that says "Imported from Lancaster County TM". Trademarked. They trademarked that phrase. That's sort of silly and sad. And I wonder if they sell these same bottles in Lancaster County, where it wasn't imported because it was made there. Maybe I'll call 800-MY-DAIRY and ask.
Anyways, this stuff ain't great but it ain't bad. It's a pretty neutral way to get lots of sugary crap in your body fast. Honestly, I don' really recommend it.
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First of all, the Turkey Hill that makes the ice cream is a different Turkey Hill than what runs the "Minit Markets". The ice cream is actually good (or at least used to be).
ReplyDeleteTurkey Hill is a geographic designation. I'll leave it to Tim to create the false mystique of some Civil War battle scene involving hundreds of turkeys streaming over a hillside.
There is also a Turkey Hill Ranch Bible Camp, but that's in Missouri. So Tim should know about that as well?
If you must drink iced tea from Pennsylvania, then it must be Clover Farms Icy Tea. This may be the closest one can get to sweet tea without heading below the old Mason Dixon. Though many will argue what side o' the line PA actually belongs on.
Clover farms icy tea is the best ever but i can never find it in stores! I live in the suburbs of philly & 1 pizza place had it but couple weeks ago they replaced it with some no name iced tea. Do u kno what super markets have it?!
DeleteDino, go and fetch me Clover Farms Icy Tea. I command it.
ReplyDeleteDino, The turkey hill that makes the ice cream IS the same company that makes the iced tea, whats being reviewed here... and what i can see they do sell turkey hill tea & iced creams at the Minit Markets.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.turkeyhill.com/products/iced-tea.asp
I am from Lancaster county...born and raised. Turkey Hills here are like others...Wawa's, 7-11's, etc.The ice cream and the iced teas all come from the same spot, and yes they do own the turkey hill markets. They are sold all over the place. You should have tried the regular turkey hill tea. Thats the 1 90% of Lancastrians drink.
ReplyDeleteI can't quite follow the last sentence, what does "1 90%"... Oh wait. I get it. It's the "one that 90%" drink.
ReplyDeleteDarn you kids and your internet shortcuts.
Well... I know a guy that like Turkey Hill, I'll buy a jug of the regular stuff and try it next time I see him. Thataway he can have the rest of it if it turns out bad.
Turkeyhillicedtea (you must say it as one word)is like heroin. It is addictive. It doesn't taste like bag-brewed tea, but that's not the point. It's Turkeyhilicedtea. I'm born and raised here too and that is one of the good things about being home.
ReplyDeleteNancy
I'm from lancaster county too! born and raised as well. grew up in solanco.
ReplyDeletet.hill iced tea (as we call it here) IS addicting! i've been drinking the stuff since 5th grade and haven't been able to find anything to replace its sugary greatness in the past 10 years. i tell all my friends if i ever move from the area i plan on getting bottles shipped to my new address.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGive the stuff a second chance. I grew up with it (I'm from the northeast: born and raised in Pennsylvania and schooled there and in Massachusetts), and it's hands down the best dairy tea. You might have had a bad bottle... the stuff IS mass produced, and as they've expanded the tea sales throughout the East Coast and part of the Midwest [not available here in Chicago, sadly], they seem to rush it a bit at times. You might have had what used to be the "lemonade tea" (and originally "Lemon tea cooler"), and, yes, that tastes too fake. the the regular Iced Tea (which has sort of a lemon and pear tea flavor) and the Orange Tea are awesome, the blueberry Oolong is a must have whenever I go back to PA (can't get it anywhere else, even in MA), and I think these taste about as close to bag brewed tea as you'll get from a processed drink. Clover Farms is great, too, as is Galliker's in Central PA and Oakhurst in Downeast Maine. (Now for a really putrid dairy tea, try the stuff that you find out in Illinois... tastes like the Lipton "tea" that you'd scoop out of a can of powder into a pitcher of treated tap water... only they don't put the Lipton label on it.)
ReplyDeleteReally? Reeealllly? Dang it, maybe I do need to try it again. What's a "dairy" tea?
ReplyDeleteThis tea tastes like straight sh!t.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Houston, Tx. (The South) and my favorite type of tea to purchase is Red Diamond sweet tea. It's delicious. However, when I was unable to get a gallon, I tried Turkey Hill Southern Brewed. EW! Who the hell from the South told them that's how to make sweet tea?! They were very incorrect. If they make other types and people enjoy it, then great, but it's sure sad that they stamp "Southern Brewed" on their stuff and sell it down here. Hope to hell they stop selling it. It tastes like Lipton lemon flavored tea from a can. AKA, sh!t.
Yeah, "Southern" isn't just a tea flavoring, it's a fundamentally different way to bring tea into existence.
ReplyDeleteI'm embarrassed to say that the most "authentic" tasting mass produced Southern tea I find at... White Castles.
I am from Lancaster County. I love Turkey Hill Tea (The regular and the Green Tea) What do you expect us to drink out here in the middle of nowhere? lol
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the same trucks that bring me Turkey Hill bring you Coca Cola and a whole host of crappy soft drinks which are slightly less awful than the syrup tea for which your county is renowned.
ReplyDeleteOr make your own sweetened teas, it's just tea dude!
Clover farms icy tea is better then turkey hill
ReplyDeleteTurkeyHill Pure & Chilled unsweetened ice tea contains phosphoric acid, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate (preserve freshness). They say on the back "made with simple ingredients like pure water and real tea" "they are bottled cold and kept cold to preserve freshness" Wait I thought they said sodium benzoate was used to preserve freshness. Yes, it contains water and tea plus a lot of other crap. Don't buy this stuff - you have been warned
ReplyDeleteI am a fan of both Turkey Hill and Clover Hill Icy Tea, but I have been stuck in the Midwest for the last 8 years forced to drive home with gallons of it in my trunk after visiting family. Kroger is able to special order select flavors of the Turkey Hill, but not the standard Iced Tea. I was wondering if anyone had gotten close to the same flavor at home. I have tried various things, but it's missing something.
ReplyDelete