Bow Regards

Has the American public had its fill of the same old iced tea? That's what Tim Roche is betting with his recently launched "Vice T."

As its name suggests, there's more to Vice T than meets the palate. "It's got a little bit of a kick to it," says Roche, 33, who hopes to create a new product category: alcoholic iced tea. "It's a malt beverage, but it tastes like a bottled, sweetened lemon tea."

Roche's Plymouth, Minnesota-based Malternative Brewing Co. rolled out its debut product in May. Available in about a dozen states, Vice T is projected to reach national distribution within three years.

"People are like `Wow! I can't believe no one has thought of this [before],' " says Roche, whose tea has a 5.3 percent alcohol content. "It's really been going over well."

Inspired to create Vice T after learning of the overseas success of alcoholic lemonade, Roche predicts sales for his beverage brainchild will reach $10 million in three years. T-riffic!

This article was originally published in the September 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Bow Regards.