Tribune Tries It: Arizona Arnold Palmer Vs. Diet Snapple Half & Half

With Summer right around the corner, the need for a refreshing beverage is at its highest level of the year.

With the rise of popularity of half tea/lemonade drinks one no longer has to choose between either iced tea or lemonade. But which is the better choice, Arizona’s Arnold Palmer or Snapple’s diet Half and Half? They are pitted head to head in this Summer edition of Tribune Tries It.

Arizona Arnold Palmer

Popular beverage power-house Arizona has the athlete endorsement on their version of the drink, however the product has become more famous than the golfer who’s namesake is on the drink.  Their version is typically sold in $0.99 23 ounce cans and has 50 calories per 8 ounce serving. It also does contain 5% juice per can and no fat or cholesterol and only 10mg of sodium as well as 25% of a daily serving of Vitamin C. 14g of carbohydrates and 13g of sugar per 8 ounces is this drink’s largest health drawback.

It has a distinct sweet taste to it and perhaps leans more on the lemonade side than the tea side. This could come from the amount of actual juice in the drink. Overall though the flavor is very pleasing to any fan of the tea/lemonade combo and is very consistent from can to can.

Another drawback is the inconvenience of having to buy them in the 23 oz. cans and not in a gallon or 2 liter version.

Diet Snapple Half and Half

Leading off of the popularity of Arizona’s Arnold Palmer, Snapple decided to bring out their own version of the tea/lemonade formula.

Half & Half is available in 160z. bottles or 1/2 gallon jugs for more convenient purposes. And while the individual bottles are slightly more expensive than the Arizona counterpart, the 1/2 gallon version will bring savings in the long run.

The largest advantage that Snapple holds is the health statistics on their drink.  With only 5 calories per 8 ounces, 1g of carbs and no sugar the Snapple version is the obvious choice for health nuts.

The taste, however, is drastically different than the Arizona tea. It has the unique tea flavor and is sweet, but not overly sweet. The tea’s bitterness is more prevalent and has a more “natural” taste than old Arnold. The taste for this version is quickly acquired, but a drawback to this otherwise perfect formula is the consistency from bottle to bottle. Some bottles are perfectly balanced while others seem to be missing the lemonade altogether and the most recent bottle that was consumed for this article tasted closer to peach tea.

The Winner?

All things considered, there is no clear winner due to the fact that, while the drinks are both labeled as tea/lemonade combos, they are both entirely different drinks. Both are delicious and the Snapple is healthier, but the Arizona is sweeter and more consistent. The choice is up to you as both will quench that desperate Summer thirst, and both are available at most local convenient stores or groceries.

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