Some mornings, I barely recognize The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) and PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) from their late-twentieth-century cola wars. Do you remember when everything was about Coke vs. Pepsi taste tests? My how times have changed. Now both beverage companies are facing off in battle royale: premium juices and teas.

Teas? If I told you this in 1987, you would have laughed so hard your acid-wash jeans split open (you know, they're tight from all the Cherry Coke Classic you're drinking!). But it's true. The latest news: Coke has purchased juice and tea maker Fuze Beverage LLC in a deal valued by the Beverage Digest at around $225 million. The company makes vitamin-enhanced juice-flavored drinks and WaterPlus enhanced waters, all which sell at a premium price point (but not quite as premium as Naked Juice, which Pepsi purchased for roughly twice the price in November).

This is just one more volley in the war for the healthy-conscious, premium juice beverage consumer -- the one who's eschewed sodas in favor of low-calorie and also low-sugar teas and juices that actually contain fruit juice. Cherry Cola does not, it must be remembered, count as a serving of fruit, and as more schools ban soda from vending machines, and more customers demand healthful offerings, Coke and Pepsi will continue to battle.

I still call Pepsi a winner, with tastier, more truly health-conscious offerings, and wonder how far away from a deal with the makers of Honest Tea is Pepsi? Who will send the next salvo in the good-for-you-too beverage battle?

[Photo Terry Johnston]