Brewed awakening: MF rates the best and worst diet and unsweetened teas

You may not have a porch, a swing to sit in, or Old Yeller at your side, but you can still enjoy a good bottle of iced tea--one that isn't filled with flab-inducing sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. To help you pick the best, we tried all the major brands of low- and no-calorie bottled tea to see which were worth chugging and which deserved to be bagged.

Lemon Diet Snapple Iced Tea SIZE: 16 oz CALORIES: O TASTE: More like lemonade--or Kool-Aid--than tea SWEETNESS: Slightly tart, with an artificial-sweetener bite THIRST-QUENCHING CAPABILITY: ** (out of four)

Honest Tea Lorrs Lemon Tea SIZE: 15.5 oz CALORIES: 60 TASTE: Just like fresh-brewed, with an added slice of lemon SWEETNESS: Perfect--just enough without being overbearing THIRST-QUENCHING CAPABILITY: ****

Arizona Diet Iced Tea With Lemon SIZE: 20 oz CALORIES: O TASTE: Like a chewable vitamin-C tablet SWEETNESS: So artificially sweet it dries out your mouth THIRST-QUENCHING CAPABILITY: *

Teas' Tea Golden Oolong SIZE: 16.9 oz CALORIES: 0 TASTE: Natural, just like you'd get in an Asian restaurant SWEETNESS: None at all THIRST-QUENCHING CAPABILITY: ***

Lipton Diet Lemon Iced Tea SIZE: 16 oz CALORIES: 0 TASTE: Like Lemon Pledge (not that we've ever tasted Lemon Pledge) SWEETNESS: Mild and inoffensive THIRST-QUENCHING CAPABILITY: **

Republic of Tea Ceylon Black Tea SIZE: 12 oz CALORIES: TASTE: A mixture of grass clippings and lemon peel (but good) SWEETNESS: More spicy than sugary THIRST-QUENCHING CAPABILITY: ***

Crystal Light SIZE: One tub makes 2 quarts CALORIES: 5 per 8-oz. glass TASTE: Citrusy, light, refreshing SWEETNESS: Ideal--about what you'd get from one packet of Equal THIRST-QUENCHING CAPABILITY: ****

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