Review: Lake of the Woods Great Big Tea Hard Iced Tea

Back in August 2025 I was alerted that Kenora's Lake of the Woods Brewing made an alcoholic iced tea that yours truly would absolutely love. I'm a snob about iced tea so don't ever tell me I'll love something until I'll actually give my approval.. but I'm also not picky about boozy iced teas to begin with.

Great Big Tea Hard Iced Tea is described as: made with love using premium vodka and real brewed black tea. Non-carbonated, sweet, refreshing and a squeeze out of the ordinary. A perfect blend of iced tea, lemon and vodka to give you that feeling of ‘sunshine on the dock’ in every can. Oh… and all that with a boozy 7% kick. Bringing the ‘BIG’ to a GREAT hard TEA. 7.0% ABV

Appearance: This has a deep copper brown appearance, close to no clarity to it, and a tad bit of white foam on top. This reminds me of my childhood for sure.

Aroma: Pretty much a sweet, sugary Good Host brand iced tea kind of vibe to it - sugary, a bit of "green tea" kind of presence, but really.. quite a sugary iced tea presence we all know and love.

Taste: There's a strong vodka bitterness I get from the first sip each and every time I sip this 355mL can of iced tea. Once I get past the vodka bite from it, it's giving me a very sugary, sweet, Good Host-inspired iced tea kind of taste to it. It's got a big booziness to it, but it also has a familiarity from your childhood - it's a hefty iced tea.. with vodka.

Overall Thoughts: This is the closest thing to Good Host iced tea to ever making their own packaged beverage.. but with vodka added. I've told Lake of the Woods I'd love to see a 473mL version of this hard iced tea, but with it being 7%, 355mL makes sense. 

PS: If my sister is reading this, thank you for bringing me LOTW beers over the years, you're the best sister in the world!