Specialty coffee and tea retailer The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf launched a new line of bottled coffee and tea beverages to be sold in select stores. The line includes three coffee and three tea-based bottled beverages made with the Coffee Bean’s own premium coffee beans and tea leaves. The retailer bottled its three most popular café drinks: Café Latte, Café Mocha and Café Vanilla.
Starbucks Coffee’s Tazo Tea brand introduced its Tazo Zero Calorie Naturally Sweetened Bottled Teas and a line of Well-Being Teas. The zero-calorie ready-to-drink tea line is brewed from real tea leaves and sweetened with stevia, a zero calorie all-natural sweetener.
Sunsweet Naturals, a cooperative of California farmers, introduced Sunsweet Herbal Blends, a line of all-natural ready-to-drink beverages that combines exotic and traditional herbs, steeped in water and lightly sweetened with organic fruit juice.
Boston Beer Co. released a six-pack featuring the winners of its 2009 Samuel Adams American Homebrew Contest. The variety pack features two bottles each of Michael Robinson’s Old Ale, Ben Miller’s Barleywine and Jeremy White’s Saison.
Pernod Ricard USA expanded its Absolut vodka brand with the launch of Absolut Berri Acai. The variety combines acai, blueberry and pomegranate flavors. As with all Absolut flavors, Absolut Berri Acai is made from all natural ingredients and contains no sugar or added preservatives, the company says.
Proximo added an orange-tangerine flavor to its line of Three Olives vodka. Three-O Rangtang has a bright orange color and juicy flavor, the company says. The vodka is distilled in England in small batches and made from English wheat.
Hotel California USA introduced its ultra-premium line of tequilas of the same name. Initially launched in California as well as the Northeast, Hotel California tequilas are available in Blanco, Reposado and Anejo varieties.
Glaceau, a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Co., released Vitaminwater Connect, the flavor designed and chosen by Vitaminwater’s Facebook fans. The Black Cherry-Lime flavor is made with caffeine and eight key fortifications, including B vitamins. Connect’s flavor, functional benefits and label design all were chosen by 116,000 unique Facebook users, the company says.
Shamrock Farms introduced a line of protein-fortified low-fat milks called Rockin’ Refuel. The product is made with 100 percent milk fortified with 20 grams of protein to refuel athletes. With naturally occurring electrolytes, Rockin’ Refuel also is an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, riboflavin, phosphorous and vitamin D, the company says.
R.W. Knudsen Family relaunched its Spritzers line, now with fewer calories, updated packaging and new branding. Spritzers are made with sparkling water and 70 to 80 percent fruit juice, which is a reduction from the original formula’s 100 percent juice content. Calories per 10.5-ounce can now range from 110 to 120, compared to the previous 12-ounce can’s nearly 200 calories per serving.