I received a six-pack of this new MolsonCoors product while I was away in Las Vegas and stored it away in the beer fridge with some trepidation. Coors Light, it will likely not surprise you to read, is hardly my favourite brand of lager, and my experience with flavoured big name beers has not been good. Still, the beer is cold and my office is a hotbox right now, so I figured the time was right to give it a try.
On the nose, this pale gold brew is immediately off-putting, with a slightly sickly, sweet lemon-lime aroma mixing with soft graininess. But let’s face it, the target audience for this brew is unlikely to spend a lot of time nosing it, so the aroma is hardly going to receive much attention.
On the palate, it tastes like…well, lemon-flavoured iced tea. I get lemon, I get some vaguely tea-ish tannins, especially on the finish, and while it doesn’t say that Coors Light Iced T is flavoured with lime, I find some lime notes on the finish. What I don’t get is any sense that this in any way, shape or form a beer.
Which may be the point, I suppose. As an experiment, I poured a second bottle over ice and found it to be a refreshing beverage that was even less a beer — although how you can get from not tasting like beer to tasting even less like beer is a mystery to me — which I imagine might appeal to the “I want to drink beer, not taste it” crowd. Me, I prefer the taste of a nice pilsner for quenching my thirst.
Thanks for the sacrifice; rather you than me.
I’ll save you a bottle, Lew!
Stephen,
I actually was at the media launch, and can confirm that there is lemon (not lime, as I thought too) in there.
I did notice a hint of grainy malts on the finish, but the sample I had wasn’t super cold.
Two things that actually did impress me about the Coors Light Iced T (as noted on bar towel, don’t think about the acronym), was that it was a lot less sweet than, say, a bottle of Nestea. I was expecting it to me really sugary. It also didn’t have the tinny synthetic flavour that was so thick in Bud Light Lime. There may be synthetic flavours in there, but I wasn’t struck by them. I agree, this isn’t really “beer”, but I’m sure it will sell like hotcakes. I’ll stick to quaffing a hoppy pale ale after I finish mowing my theoretical lawn.
Chris
What’s the abv? I mean, if it tastes better than nestea and doesn’t taste like bad beer….
It’s 4%, Tim.
I have a sense I am the only Canadian who said no to the sample during this market test. For something that is not really beer there sure has been a lot of coverage. What made this gak so blurb worthy? I know you were away but was the cheese tray at the launch party that good? You must hear the rumours, right? Or is it the needy Canadian thing?
I didn’t attend the launch, Mr. McL. And I said yes to samples because people visit my site to read about new products, whether they are from Dogfish Head or MolsonCoors. (My review of Molson M still receives regular hits.) Nothing needy or Canadian about it.
I was not razzing you – as you say this is your gig. But there is a bit of news service over kill of this non-news. Must be nice for them to get the free ad space. Having gone to a college with a large journalism cadre, I know the lure of the cheese tray.
Hi Stephen, Forest from Molson Coors here.
I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to try Coors Light Iced T, as I know the light lager used as the base here isn’t in the circle of beers you would generally choose.
I understand your comment on the aroma from a beer aficionado position, but one thing i would actually interject is that those from the target market you mention have actually been quite enticed by it so far. Different strokes for different folks obviously…
Thanks again for taking the time to taste and to write.
Cheers, Forest
Yes, thanks Steve. The target market has been enticed.
Feeling a bit snarkier than usual, Mr. McL?
I am. Bear with me as I work through it.
4%? That’s session tea.
The most disgusting beverage I’ve ever had. Tastes like watered down chlorenated lemon water.
I took a bottle of this off the shelf thinking it was beer. I gagged on the first sip. Only then did I read the label to discover it wasn’t beer at all. I mean how could it be with iced T dumped into it. I won’t make that mistake again!