Free Starbucks Iced Tea Available Friday

CLEVELAND, OH — Nothing says summer quite like an iced tea. The drink is nearly synonymous with the season. On Friday, customers at Starbucks can try a new, free 12-ounce Teavana Shaken Iced Tea Infusion.

The offer is part of the company's marketing campaign for the new beverage and the free samples will only be available from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday. The new drink contains tea, fruit and botanical blends, slightly sweetened with liquid cane sugar, according to a company press release.

“The fruit and botanical blends of pineapple, peach citrus and strawberry take the place of sweeteners for a lighter mouthfeel and more delicate flavor than other iced tea beverages,” said the drink's co-creator Megan Droz in a statement. “It’s possible to mix and match the different infusions because the flavors are all complementary to our core Teavana black, green, herbal and white teas.”

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Droz and her co-creator Melynda Cheng, both product developers for Starbucks, started working on the new Teavana Shaken Iced Tea Infusion a year ago. The product officially debuted on July 11, but the company is hoping to give it a strong push using the free giveaway on July 14.

“We tried hundreds of combinations,” said Droz. “We know when flavor notes are complementary after tasting so many beverages and food over the years as part of our work. We identified flavors that stood out against tea as well as those that were buried by it.”

Photo from Starbucks