Raisin Canes had been on my iced tea radar for some time now, but being that there are only a handful of locations in my home state of California and none within 100 miles of my home, I had not gotten the chance to visit one.  I had a recent visitor to my website say I had to try Raising Cane’s tea, so I knew on my next trip to Southern California I couldn’t leave without tasting it.

So that’s what I set out to do. On the last day of a family trip to SD, I ventured about 15 miles from our hotel to make a special trip to a Raising Cane’s restaurant.

Granted this was a Saturday night, but I was still surprised to see a packed parking lot and a backed up drive through line. Initially I was only going to purchase their iced tea, but after seeing the crowd, I had to see if the chicken was something special. Now I don’t claim to be a food critic and I hope this doesn’t hurt my credibility with Raising Cane’s fans, but I felt the chicken was just okay. I did however like the unique taste of the Cane Sauce.

But back to what I came for, the iced tea. The first thing I noticed was the Bunn brewing machine behind the counter, but when I went around the corner to fill my cup, I noticed the tea was kept in a plastic container after it was brewed, the type I have been critical of at places like Panera in the past. Despite this, I thought the iced tea was really good tasting.  Not the best, but definitely one of the better tasting teas I have had from a fast food restaurant. It was of course fresh brewed and definitely on the strong side. The unsweetened tea has just the slightest hint of sweetness, which was actually pretty good. The price was really reasonable at $2.22 for a large 32 oz. and the refills were self-serve. I had come so far to try it, I decided to get a gallon jug of the unsweet tea for $5.29 and I am glad I did.  After reaching out to Raising Cane’s customer service, I found out that they serve “their own signature Raising Cane’s blend of tea.”