TOT: Iced Tea Soda

Here's a new weird combination that turns out to be really good. It's bubbly cherry iced tea, called TOT 苏打红茶 suda hong cha (Iced Tea Soda).

On first taste, it's almost like the tea flavor is hidden behind the bubbles, and you feel like you're drinking seltzer water. The tea and cherry flavor is subtle and actually pretty good. I'm not a fan of most bottled iced teas like brisk, but this one is different. It's got a lighter flavor and is not so overpoweringly sweet or artificial tasting as other ones I've tried.

Even weirder than the drink itself is the TOT Iced Tea Soda Commercial (I apologize, that this video might not be available outside China without a proxy). I'm not sure how this sells the drink at all, but here's a recap of the commercial:

It's pronounced T-O-T

Guy: "Why are you going to college all the way in Beijing? You know my test scores aren't high enough to go there with you!"

Four Years Later....

Girl: "Iced Tea Soda, please"

Guy sees her ordering the drink, gets all teary-eyed

Girl sees him, nods slightly

Next thing we know, they're happily ever after, but noone has even drank any of the tea

Obviously, this is marketing at its best. The commercial has nothing to do with TOT or iced tea, or even drinks in general. It suggests that if you buy an iced tea soda at a grocery store, you will find your long lost love. You don't even have to drink it! Unfortunately that didn't happen to me today when I bought mine. Maybe I'll have better luck next time.