AriZona Green Tea Ingredients: What’s in the 99¢ Can (2026)

Last reviewed: November 2026. Reflects the U.S. AriZona Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey label (22 fl oz can, ©2026 Beverage Marketing USA), photographed November 2026. Bottles and gallon jugs use the same recipe at different sizes.

AriZona Green Tea is the 99-cent tall can with cherry blossoms on it, the brand’s best seller, and the one people reach for because it’s tea, not soda. The name says ginseng and honey. The ingredient list says high fructose corn syrup first, then honey, and the nutrition panel puts 42 grams of added sugar in a 22-ounce can. That’s more sugar than a 12-ounce Coke, in a can most people drink in one go. It does have real brewed green tea, no synthetic colors, and a modest 20 milligrams or so of caffeine. Here’s all the arizona green tea ingredients, what “with ginseng and honey” adds up to, and how the can compares to soda and to a cup of green tea.

Quick answer: what’s in AriZona Green Tea?

The full AriZona Green Tea ingredients list

Three things to notice. High fructose corn syrup is the second ingredient, right after the tea, and honey is third, so there’s more corn syrup in the can than honey; the honey in the name is a flavor note, not the main sweetener. The panel has a “per container” column, and that’s the number to read: the label calls the 22 oz can “approx. 2 servings,” but it’s a single can with one tab. And ginseng is last, with no amount given, which means it’s present in the smallest quantity of anything on the list.

AriZona Green Tea ingredients explained

Premium brewed green tea, filtered water Real tea

AriZona brews the tea rather than using a powdered extract, which is a genuine credit. It’s also mostly water: the tea is brewed light, which is why the caffeine is low and the flavor leans on the sweeteners and natural flavors.

High fructose corn syrup Flagged, most of the 42 g

The main sweetener, listed as “glucose-fructose syrup” in parentheses, which is the same thing. Per 12 ounces, AriZona Green Tea has 23 g of added sugar, about 60% of a Coke’s 39 g. Per can, it has 42 g, more than the 12 oz Coke. The research on sugared drinks and weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and fatty liver doesn’t distinguish tea-flavored from cola-flavored. Our high fructose corn syrup breakdown covers why the dose matters more than the syrup.

Honey Second sweetener

Third on the list. AriZona’s marketing names Sue Bee orange blossom honey. Honey is still sugar, about half fructose and half glucose like the corn syrup, and counts toward the 42 g of added sugar. It adds a floral note that corn syrup doesn’t.

Natural flavors Undisclosed

Rounds out the light tea flavor. Plant-derived, details not disclosed.

Citric acid Fine

Tartness and a little preservation. Makes the drink acidic enough to matter for teeth when it’s sipped over an afternoon.

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) Fine

Added vitamin C, 20% of the daily value per serving and 35% per can. It also works as an antioxidant that keeps the tea from browning in the can. Useful, though no one needs a sugared drink to get vitamin C.

Panax ginseng root extract Dose not listed

The “ginseng” in the name. Studies of Panax ginseng for energy and mental performance use standardized extracts at about 200 to 400 mg a day. AriZona doesn’t list the amount, and it’s the last ingredient, after citric acid and vitamin C, so it’s almost certainly far below a studied dose. Safe; not doing much.

“With ginseng and honey”: what the name leaves out

The front of the can names two ingredients, ginseng and honey, and neither one is the point of the drink. The ginseng is the smallest ingredient on the list. The honey is the second sweetener, behind high fructose corn syrup. Some retailer listings for AriZona’s bottled green tea describe it as sweetened with honey and cane sugar, but the ingredient list on the bottle and on the can we photographed says high fructose corn syrup. The can also says “100% natural” and “no synthetic color or artificial flavor.” The second part is accurate. “Natural” has no legal definition for foods in the U.S., and the FDA doesn’t object to corn syrup carrying it.

How much green tea and caffeine are you getting?

AriZona says its green teas contain about 7.5 mg of caffeine per 8 oz, which works out to roughly 11 mg per 12 oz serving and about 20 mg in the 22 oz can. A cup of brewed green tea has around 30 mg in 8 oz, and a 12 oz Coke has 34 mg, so AriZona is a low-caffeine drink. The tea’s antioxidants, the catechins people buy green tea for, aren’t listed, and lab studies of bottled sweetened teas have generally found them far lower than in brewed tea. If you’re drinking AriZona for the green tea benefits, a brewed cup delivers more of them with no sugar.

AriZona Green Tea vs. soda and other drinks

AriZona figures from the can we photographed and AriZona’s published caffeine content; Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Gatorade from their current labels; brewed green tea from typical values. The first row is per 12 oz; the second is the whole can, because that’s how it’s sold and drunk.

Is AriZona Green Tea healthy?

The concerns, ranked by evidence:

1. Added sugar. 42 g a can, 84% of the daily limit; liquid sugar is the form most consistently linked to weight gain and type 2 diabetes.
2. Serving size. “Approx. 2 servings” on a can that’s drunk as one.
3. Teeth. Citric acid and sugar, often sipped slowly.
4. Health halo. “Green tea,” “ginseng,” “honey,” and “100% natural” suggest a better drink than the label shows.
5. Caffeine. Low, about 20 mg a can; not a concern for most people.

AriZona Green Tea for kids, pregnancy, and diabetes

Kids: one can is well over the American Heart Association’s 25 g daily added-sugar limit for children, plus a small amount of caffeine. Treat it like a soda.

Pregnancy: caffeine guidance is under 200 mg a day, and a can has about 20 mg. Ginseng supplements aren’t recommended in pregnancy; the amount here isn’t disclosed and is likely tiny, but it’s a reason to ask your doctor if you drink it daily.

Diabetes: 42 g of fast sugar in a can raises blood glucose like a soda. The diet version doesn’t.

Cleaner alternatives

For the same flavor without the sugar: AriZona Diet Green Tea, which is sweetened with sucralose and acesulfame potassium instead and has essentially no calories. For green tea without sweeteners: unsweetened bottled green tea or a brewed cup, iced, with lemon. For a little sweetness you control: brew green tea and add a teaspoon of honey, about 6 g of sugar instead of 42. And for the 99-cent habit: splitting the can, or pouring half over ice and topping it with water, cuts the sugar in half without changing what you buy.

This article is for informational purposes and is not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or registered dietitian about your individual nutrition needs.