Twisted Tea's bright yellow can is going into hiding this fall.
The hard iced tea brand has teamed up with Realtree on a limited-edition collaboration.
The outdoor lifestyle brand's APX camouflage pattern is appearing on Twisted Tea product packaging design for the first time, rolling out nationwide now.
Realtree licenses the pattern to partners who sell an estimated $4 billion of camo and branded products a year.
"Twisted Tea drinkers already love spending time outdoors, so teaming up with Realtree felt like a no-brainer," Erica Taylor, senior brand director for Twisted Tea, said in a statement.
The brand partnership helps Twisted Tea have a direct association with fall occasions like camping, fishing, and tailgating.
These are the weekends when coolers come out, and packs get shared.
Realtree VP of Strategic Partnerships Tyler Jordan believes there aren't many cans in the market as instantly recognizable as a Twisted Tea.
"Which made it especially fun for us to give that bright yellow can the Realtree treatment," he added.
The Team Realtree logo appears on Twisted Tea Original 12-pack and 18-pack wraps, and a limited-edition 24-ounce can wears the full APX pattern.
The packaging design does the recruiting here, since a shopper spots the camo wrap before reading a single word on the box.
Where the Camo Shows Up
A merch collection includes hoodies, hats, beanies, T-shirts, vests, backpacks, chairs, and duck calls, plus a talking fish for the wall.
Fans can shop it on Twisted Tea's Tea Store while supplies last.
A national Tea Drop campaign supports the launch across TV, streaming, social, bars, restaurants, and retail.
Twisted Tea is also taking the camo outdoors through social content, creators, and activations this fall.
In stores, displays feature Twisted Tea deer antlers and a full lodge fireplace scene.
"From what fans are drinking to what they're wearing, we're giving them plenty of ways to break out the Realtree camo this fall," Jordan said.
The merch keeps a seasonal co-branding deal in play even after the last can is sold.
Why Camo Fits a Cooling Category
Twisted Tea still leads hard tea, but the category is shrinking under it.
Circana figures in Beverage Industry's 2026 beer market report put hard tea sales down 5.1% in 2025, with Twisted Tea down 5.8%.
Realtree has reach of its own, with more than 2,000 licensees selling over 30,000 products, amounting to an estimated $4 billion in sales annually.
Twisted Tea is falling faster than the category it leads, so it needs new buyers rather than its current ones drinking more.
Realtree's licensee network reaches a fall-outdoors crowd that already pays for the camo, which makes the pattern a cheaper way in than another flavor launch.
Twisted Tea's fall drop points to three moves any brand with a recognizable pack can copy:
- Borrow a badge your buyers wear: Team Realtree logos on the 12-pack and 18-pack wraps are a sign of membership to shoppers who wear the same mark on their gear.
- Push the pack into products that outlast it: Vests, chairs, and duck calls keep the brand in use after the last can is empty.
- Stage the season at the point of purchase: Antler and lodge fireplace displays place the campaign where shelf choices get made.
A limited run succeeds when the partner's symbol does the persuading, since Realtree's camo arrives with decades of trust already attached to it.
Twisted Tea skips the work of teaching shoppers what the pattern means and spends its budget on reach instead.
Our Take: Can a Camo Can Start the Convo?
Every fall weekend has a cooler at the center, and every can in it gets passed from hand to hand.
We think that this handoff is the real media buy here.
A camo can invites a comment from whoever is holding it, and the TV spend only works if people are already talking.
If we ran this campaign, we would track the "where did you get that" text first, then the repeat purchase it sets off.
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