Georgia man orders Wingstop. Then he self-serves Gold Peak sweet tea—so why is it carbonated?

Sweet tea is a particularly refreshing drink on a hot summer day, which most Americans are experiencing right now.

When one Georgia man went to get one at a Wingstop soda machine, however, he noticed something unusual about it.

In a recent TikTok video with over 10,500 views, Scotty Johnson (@scottyrcjohnson) filmed himself filling a cup of ice with Gold Peak sweet tea. But instead of coming out like regular tea, the drink appeared to foam up with bubbles.

“Bro, tell me why,” Johnson says in the video. “I’m over here at Wingstop and I went to get some tea, figured I’d splurge a little bit.”

Then he shows the drink coming out of the machine.

“What the [expletive] is that?” he asks. “What the [expletive] is that?”

The drink foams up as it fills the cup, with what appears to be bubbles forming on the surface.

“may be slow or something but I’m from GA that ain’t the tea I was expecting,” Johnson wrote in the caption.

Why Was The Wingstop Sweet Tea Carbonated?

In the comments, viewers tried to figure out what might have happened.

One commenter suggested the drink may have come from a bag-in-box system rather than being freshly brewed.

“Bag in the box tea mixed with water similar to how soda is made. it’s not fresh brewed,” they wrote.

Johnson responded to that comment. “Carbonated sweat tea tho?” he wrote.

Another commenter guessed the issue may have come from the drink machine itself.

“The coke machine lines are malfunctioning,” they wrote. “I hate everyone is going to bagged tea. Can’t find brewed tea anymore. Especially if Coca-Cola is the distributor.”

Another commenter posted a photo explaining that tea can foam up, suggesting there was nothing wrong with the drink. But Johnson insisted this was not just foam.

“Bro it was sparkling tea had carbonated drinks before lol,” he replied.

Was The Gold Peak Sweet Tea Supposed To Be Carbonated?

No, Gold Peak sweet tea is not supposed to be carbonated. Gold Peak product listings describe the tea as “real brewed tea” and “never carbonated.”

However, that doesn’t mean carbonated iced tea doesn’t exist at all. In some countries, sparkling iced tea is a normal grocery-store drink. Lipton, for example, sells sparkling iced tea in Belgium, and its Belgian product page says the drink contains the “right amount” of carbonation.

In this specific case, however, Johnson’s drink should have been fizzy.

It’s possible that something went wrong with the machine or fountain setup, such as carbonated water being mixed into the tea instead of still water.

@scottyrcjohnson I may be slow or something but I’m from GA that ain’t the tea I was expecting ?‍♂️#wingstop ♬ original sound – Scotty Johnson

The Mary Sue has reached out to Wingstop, Coca-Cola, which owns Gold Peak, via email and Johnson via TikTok messages for comment.

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