An Alabama company that found a different way to make a Southern staple, sweet tea, is finding customers well beyond its home state.

Cane Brew, headquartered in Bay Minette, has expanded into retailers across more than 17 states since launching its consumer sweet tea product in 2023.

The concept takes some of the work out of making traditional sweet tea. Instead of boiling water, steeping tea and measuring sugar separately, Cane Brew combines pekoe black tea and pure cane sugar in a single tea bag. The bag is placed in cold water and steeped from eight to more than 20 minutes, depending on the desired sweetness.

The company’s Alabama roots, however, go back further than Cane Brew.

The brand grew out of Southern Visions, an Alabama company founded in 2003 by Steve Hicks and Paul Stewart. The company first developed Sweet Brew, which combined tea and pure cane sugar in a single bag for commercial food-service equipment. Paul Stewart’s son, Adam Stewart, later helped adapt the concept for home use through Cane Brew.

Since then, the brand has moved well beyond Alabama.

Cane Brew says its products are now available through retailers in more than 17 states, including Piggly Wiggly locations in Alabama, Rouses Markets across the Gulf South, Schnucks stores throughout the Midwest, and Rural King stores across much of the country.

Cane Brew’s growth hasn’t been limited to store shelves.

According to information provided by the company, its website recorded nearly 800,000 visitor sessions over the past year, an 80% increase from the previous year.

The company also points to customer reviews as another measure of the product’s reception. Cane Brew’s website currently shows an average rating of 4.8 stars, and the company says many customers have compared the flavor to “grandma’s sweet tea.”

The original Sweet Tea has also been joined by a growing lineup that includes Peach Sweet Tea, decaffeinated and unsweetened varieties and Strawberry Lemongrass Lemonade.

What began as an Alabama approach to simplifying a familiar Southern drink is now reaching grocery shelves and customers across a growing portion of the country while still calling Alabama home.

Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].