Heytea Has a Boozy Fruit Tea and We Tried It

‘We Try It’ is a regular series where we try the latest off-beat food and beverage offerings.

While fruity craft beers are all the rage right now, we can’t say the same for beer-flavored teas. 

We recently stumbled upon a seasonal item, called ‘intoxicated grape beer’ (醉醉葡萄啤), at the popular Chinese fruit tea chain Heytea. Admittedly, our expectations were pretty low for this alcoholic tea. For starters, it’s a tea shop serving alcohol (never a good sign), and furthermore, it’s a tea shop serving alcohol!

Image by Ryan Gandolfo/That’s

Nonetheless, we gave it a try because when in China, try everything once, right? 

The brand’s suds of choice are of the Mexican variety – Corona – mixed with fresh grape juice which contains real bits of grape and a slice of lime. Served in a 500-milliliter cup, the boozy fruit tea ranges from RMB25-34, but surprisingly, extra beer and less tea is an option at no additional cost. However, we keep it all standard to see what the average customer can expect from this ‘brewed’ fruit tea drink.

Here’s what the That’s Guangzhou office had to say about Heytea’s alcoholic concoction:

Alice, Marketing
“There’s no alcohol in it. It just smells a bit like beer.”
Rating: 3/5

Wesley, Sales (and part-time alligator wrestler, we think)
“It’s too light. It’s neither fruit juice nor beer.”
Rating: 2/5

Ryan, Editorial
“It’s like my mom would always say: I’m disappointed.”
Rating: 3/5

Tristin, Editorial
“It’s pretty mellow. I don’t really like it. It’s neither a grape juice nor a beer.”
Rating: 2/5

Naomi, Editorial
“It’s light with a tea and fruit flavor but there is still the frothiness of the beer. Though to be perfectly honest, the extra liquid does kind of make the beer go flat and there’s not really enough alcohol though to make it worth it. But, I certainly don’t regret drinking it.”
Rating: 4/5

Who’s drinking it: confused tea drinkers, overtime workers, your friend Susan
Price: RMB25-34

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READ MORE: China Has Bloody Mary Beer and We Tried It

[Cover image via Pixabay, Ryan Gandolfo/That’s; compiled by Felix Chan]