Coke Tests New Insta-Tea Machine

Iced tea is huge here in the South. It’s everywhere, but you are rather limited in your tea options. Most places offer sweet tea, and maybe unsweetened tea if it’s a fancy joint. I’ve even found sweet tea served out of a 55 gallon trash can. Gary Valentine (the guy who looks like Kevin James but isn’t) does a hilarious bit (1:33 in) about it. Sweet tea is definitely king, but Coke wants to replace the monarch with democracy.

Bloomberg News says in a press release that Coca Cola is field testing a machine, Flex Fresh, that makes iced tea on demand. It can make more than several different combinations of iced tea with the press of a few buttons. You can choose green or black tea, sweetened or unsweetened, and peach, raspberry, or lemon flavor.

Coke seems to be trying to tap a burgeoning market with this new contraption. The trade product sheet says that tea consumption increased 81% between 1997 and 2007.

I still don’t think it beats actually brewing and steeping whole leaf tea to make iced tea, but at least you won’t get sassed by a waitress if you want your tea sans sweet.

Related Posts

1. Coke Zero + The Future = Facial Recognition Software
   Is it just me, or are companies running out of creative online promotions? For instance, consider Coke Zero’s new facial profiler promotion. The website asks:...
2. Yes, This Happened: The Coke Zero & Mentos Rocket Car
   True story: when one puts Mentos candies in Diet Coke, an eruption occurs. In 2006, this modern day marvel (and awesome party trick) reached the...
3. “Todd” Installs a Magic Coca-Cola Machine in a School
   This is the magical Coke machine. It brings joy to the children through free soda, balloon animals, and pizzas emerging from it’s mighty belly. Things...
4. Antioxidants FTW: Phillips Distilling Company Introduces UV Sweet Green Tea Vodka
   In college, I had a friend that mixed a “diet cocktail” of vodka and fresh brewed green tea (sugarless tea, mind you). Needless to say,...
5. Starbucks Responds to McCafe with New Size: Trenta
   Never to be outdone by a certain fast food franchise, Starbucks will be testing a new size for Iced Tea and Iced Coffee, the “Trenta”....