What do they mean by “brisk”? It’s fast?
My Mac’s New Oxford dictionary says this:
(of the weather or wind) cold but fresh and enlivening.
So, I assume they’re referring to iced tea, and they mean that.
Might mean that a quick dip is enough to satisfy many drinkers. Some dunk the bag twice for half a second each time and then toss the bag, because one bag is enough to make about 40 ounces for those that like weak tea.
I can’t stand the American version of Lipton - tastes burnt to me. The British version is tolerable.
I drink tea strong, and with nothing added.
I’m kind of a tea elitist myself…but mostly because I like funny-shaped bags, interesting labels, and sometimes using infusion baskets or stainless steel tea-balls. More fun.
Some of Lipton brands are a bit astringent and are better with milk or cream added. In fact if you want milk or cream in your tea an astringent tea typically will come through with more flavor.
Lipton is marketing some designer teas that have pyramid-shaped bags. I’m about halfway through a box of Tuscan Lemon, that’s pretty good. One by one, all the lemon teas I’ve liked have become unavailable. I’ll be off to a gourmet store in the next few days to look for some. Or I could try to develop my own – the stuff I like appears to be just a mild black tea with lemon peel.
A secretary at work is one of those. She drinks about three cups a day, all from the same bag. I would think the only flavor left after the first cup would be bitter. The longer black tea is moist, the more tannins are released.
Interesting question, Walden! When I looked this up, I realized that the “BRISK” on the side of the Lipton iced tea box was the name of the product. Who would have suspected?
In that context, I wouldn’t doubt that it is intended to communicate that the product is “fast” and convenient, since all you have to do is open the can or bottle to experience . . . “a party in every can.” ( http://www.liptonbrisk.com/ )
Lipton says the tea is “invigorating, bold, and chuggable.”
Traditionally, “brisk” in the Lipton parlance communicates “pleasantly zestful” or “stimulating and invigorating.” I have long suspected this is a marketing ploy intended to wreak continued revenge on Americans for the Boston Tea Party, by convincing them that the almost pathologic astringency of this foul brew is somehow desirable in a tea. I remain convinced that the American version of Lipton is the outlet market for tea which cannot be sold in the UK, either because it is of inferior quality or because it is old. Possibly both.
Don’t think I’m down on the product though! I’m not! It makes an excellent sunburn remedy when cooled and applied to the skin.
In Sri Lanka KO and I toured tea plantations. Tamil workers, women often, picked the tea.
Then it was separated and roasted, etc. The tea bush itself is a pretty non-descript
sort of bush, and if you just put a leaf in your mouth and chew it, it
tastes like nothing.
In Darjeeling, Bengal, a cable car took me above steep hills where women picked tea.
http://www.teainfusion.com/brands/history-of-lipton-tea.html
“[Lipton’s] advertisements explained that the term “brisk” simply meant any tea that is not stale.”
I guess “It’s not stale!” wouldn’t be such a great slogan.
And it’s been brisk, apparently, since at least 1945:
Thomas Lipton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Lipton
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Chuggable. And this is to appeal to putative Yank sensibilities, I take it? 
What a time to immigrate! 
Lipton and sustainability: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipton#Lipton_and_sustainability
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Billy Fife #3 designed Shamrock and Shamrock III. They were brisk sailing boats but not brisk enough. Fife really didn’t blow as a designer in spite of their losses.
The mention of Lipton’s recalls the smell of the Lipton’s Food Hall in Belfast. Pork Delicatessen and floor-polish. Every Lipton’s I’ve ever been in has smelled like that, regardless of where in the world it was.
The tea is terrible. Brisk it might be, but you wouldn’t drink Liptons if there was anything else available.
Worst tea I ever drank was Liptons in France. You have to expect that. French tea lacks almost everything that makes tea what it is. The addition of Liptons subtracts that je-ne-sais-quoi.
It’s not just brisk! It’s flavory!
So is dirt.
But dirt doesn’t have an advertising department coming up with meaningless words to describe it.
You got me there.
“Flavory”. I can’t believe Lipton stooped to that.