My third Zest Tea review is of the delightfully juicy Blue Lady blend. With as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, this tea powered me through the whole day after sipping through a cup.
It’s one of my favourites from their range and it’s so easy to drink with gentle flavours. It combines floral notes with juicy fruit and a warm black tea base. It’s not overly complex, but it is well-blended.
Zest Tea Blue Lady at a Glance
- Blend: Black tea with hibiscus, orange and lemon flavouring
- Flavour: Light black tea with citrus, juicy passion fruit and floral hibiscus
This is one of the more delicate blends from Zest. It’s less bitter than the Superberry Samba and Earl Grey, with juicy and floral notes. The citrus is pleasant, but it doesn’t taste fresh. A nice tea but nothing to write home about.
Full Review - Blue Lady Black Tea
- Type: Pyramid mesh sachet
- Tea: Flowery orange pekoe black tea
- Additives: Tea extract, hibiscus, passion fruit flavour, orange peel, cornflower petals, orange flavour, lemon flavour
- Flavour Notes: Light black tea base with generic citrus flavour and juicy floral hibiscus
- Aroma: Juicy hibiscus with floral and citrus high notes
- Milk or Lemon: Neither
- Where to Buy: Amazon
The dry tea sachets have a juicy aroma from the passion fruit flavouring, but there’s also a subtle floral aroma from the hibiscus and citrus fruit flavouring.
There’s a lot of citrus in this tea… but pinpointing what citrus fruit it is exactly, isn’t an easy job. The lemon and orange flavouring melt together to create a generic citrusy flavour and aroma. I actually think it would benefit from a drop of bergamot as well just to define that citrusy note more.
Once brewed, the aroma brings out more of the natural black tea flavour – it’s light and gentle, possibly a Ceylon tea or a light Chinese black tea. It’s warm but it doesn’t dominate the fruit and floral flavours. It works well.
The colour of this brew isn’t that great – it’s a muddy brown orange colour. But don’t judge a tea on its colour! The flavour is far brighter than the appearance would suggest.
I did enjoy drinking this cup, it was easy to finish and is pleasant all-round.
How to Brew High-Caffeine Tea
I discovered with my previous Zest Tea adventures that brewing at a slightly lower temperature reduces some of the bitterness the tea has from the tea extract/high caffeine. But actually, Zest Blue Lady has very little bitterness. It’s smooth and juicy even when brewed normally.
I used freshly drawn boiling hot water and left the Zest Tea sachet to brew for 1 minute and 45 seconds – 2 minutes and 15 seconds shorter than the recommended time as I like to drink my tea light without milk.
The flavour, although smooth and subtle, is distinct and I can’t imagine drinking this tea with biscuits or a meal. It’s distinct enough to stand as a dessert tea.
Why Zest Energy Tea?
I like the quality of Zest Tea – it’s good, you can see clearly the tea leaves (although broken) and petals. I do wish the flavourings were real pieces of fruit and not just added/infused flavourings. They are all natural flavourings and they taste fantastic, so I’m not too fussed.
I consumed approximately 155mg of caffeine for this Zest Blue Lady Tea review – about the same as a large cup of coffee. You really do feel the buzz of productivity, but without the crash afterwards once the caffeine has worn off.
You can also buy this tea as loose leaf rather than a tea sachet, which I would recommend even though I haven’t tried it myself. Loose leaf is generally a higher quality and the flavour will taste fresher.
Summary
This tea is aptly named. The juicy and floral notes are feminine and are a little reminiscent of a Lady Grey blend. I’d recommend this tea as an introduction to Zest’s high caffeine teas. The low bitterness and easy-drinking experience make it a very pleasant way to get accustomed to the caffeine buzz.
It’s not something I drink regularly, but it’s good to have in the cupboard.
About Me
I’m not a professional tea taster, and I’m not strict about keeping to classic tea blends either. I love the zesty modern vibes from Zest Tea as much as I adore my regular cup of English Breakfast tea. Check out my blog to find more tea reviews and recommendations to try…