Coca-Cola North America kicked off the debut of its new iced tea yesterday with a sampling event in New York City.

Passersby at Bryant Park in New York City were treated to samples of the new premium ready-to-drink beverage, Gold Peak. The drink revives the timeless flavor of classic, authentic iced tea, the company said.

"In looking at the ready-to-drink tea market, we found that the one place that nobody seemed to be playing was in the category of classic iced teas like mother used to make," Ray Crockett, Gold Peak spokesperson for Coca-Cola, said yesterday. "It's a quality product that brings back that classic taste."

Gold Peak comes in five flavors—sweetened, unsweetened, lemon, diet and green tea—offered nationwide in 16.9-ounce single-serve glass bottles at supermarkets, convenience and other retail stores. The carafe-like bottle features a label with images of a tranquil lakeside scene.

The sampling effort moves to Long Island, NY, this weekend, where samples will be handed out on Saturday at the exclusive Bridgehampton Polo Club.

A fully integrated marketing effort rolls throughout the rest of the year with print and radio ads, P-O-P materials, an interactive Web site (which launched yesterday at TasteGoldPeak.com), p.r. and the national sampling campaign.

"We're going to do a lot of sampling with this product, because we believe that if people try it, they're going to love it and stick with it," Crockett said.

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