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**When Your Iced Tea Gets a Focus Formula**

23h ago · 3 sources · trend

PepsiCo’s Pure Leaf just stepped into functional beverages with a sparkling line called “Mental Focus,” packing about 70mg of caffeine plus L-theanine. Translation, your iced tea now wants to double as your productivity stack.

They are not alone. Neutonic, built around a caffeine and L-theanine formula, raised $6M at a $60M valuation. Neuro, the energy gum and mints brand powered by the same combo, went back to Shark Tank in March and landed an investment after once walking away. LAM Beverages rolled out L-theanine coffee syrups promising “crash-free” focus for at-home coffee drinkers.

All of it sits inside a bigger shift. Coffee alternatives grew +39.5% year over year, even if the category averages 544.2K in monthly popularity. Nearly 99.7% of that search activity comes from Google, which means consumers are actively hunting for options, not just stumbling on them in a feed. Matcha alone is up +154.5% with 1.8B popularity. At the same time, classic coffee is still massive at 8.8B and growing +21.1%.

Here is the tension. Searches for caffeine-free are up +329.4%, while caffeine hit is up +406.6%. Gut health tea searches are up +642.3%. Menstrual relief tea searches are up >1,000%.

Why it matters: consumers do not want less energy. They want controlled energy. Focus without jitters. Calm without crash. The winners will not be anti-caffeine. They will be pro-formulation. The new arms race is not about how much buzz you can pack in. It is about how precisely you can tune it.

Key facts

  • Pure Leaf, Pepsi’s iced tea brand, launched its first functional sparkling line called "Mental Focus" with about 70mg of caffeine and added L-theanine.
  • Neutonic raised $6M at a $60M valuation, built around a caffeine and L-theanine formulation.
  • Neuro, the energy gum and mints brand built on caffeine and L-theanine, returned to Shark Tank in March and secured investment after previously rejecting a deal.
  • LAM Beverages launched a line of L-theanine coffee syrups marketed for "crash-free" focus for at-home coffee drinkers.
  • The coffee alternative category grew 39.5% year over year in 2025, according to Spate, though it averages 544.2K in monthly popularity.
  • Nearly 99.7% of coffee alternative search activity comes from Google, indicating active search behavior rather than social media discovery, according to Spate.
  • Matcha beverages are up 154.5% year over year with 1.8B popularity, standing out in the coffee alternatives space.
  • Searches tied to tea beverages show rapid growth in functional concerns such as gut health, up 642.3% year over year, and menstrual relief, up more than 1,000% year over year.
  • Coffee remains strong with 8.8 billion popularity and 21.1% year over year growth, even as alternatives rise.
  • Searches for caffeine-related terms show conflicting motivations, including caffeine-free up 329.4% year over year and caffeine hit up 406.6% year over year.
  • 70mg
  • $6M
  • $60M
  • +39.5%
  • 544.2K
  • 99.7%
  • +154.5%
  • 1.8B

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