I was sent an assortment of Zest Tea in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Late last summer I started working on eating better and living a heathier lifestyle. I started paying attention to how many calories I was consuming as well as how much protein, fiber and healthy fats were in my diet. Prior to beginning my journey I really didn’t know much about food or nutrition so I’ve learned a lot. I’ve found new foods, and new food brands with better nutrition profiles that I love the taste of. It’s been a neat experience overall.

However, I’ve had one bad nutrition habit that I’ve struggled to fully kick and it’s a pretty bad one – soda. I cut way back on my soda intake really early on and that wasn’t too hard and I felt great about consuming so many less empty calories. The reason I struggled to drop it completely had very little to do with the taste of soda, I don’t mind drinking plain water. The reason I was hanging onto a can of soda a day was the caffeine. I had such a hard time just ‘pushing through’ that afternoon sluggish period. I would feel like I wanted a nap and I had such a hard time remaining productive which really bothered me. So, I’d reach for a soda to ‘wake up’ and get back to work but I hated the empty calories. I couldn’t find any diet sodas that I liked the taste of, and I’ve never been a fan of coffee so I didn’t know how to get caffeine without calories.

Then I remembered that tea has caffeine and I enjoy ice tea, and tea has little to no calories depending on how it’s made. So I looked around the internet and came across Zest Tea, a company that makes a line of green and black teas that have about 3 times the caffeine of regular teas. In fact, Zest Tea has about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. It’s available in four blends and I was excited to try them all.

There is one green tea, pomegranate mojito green tea. Then there are three black teas – earl grey black, blue lady black and apple cinnamon black. I decided to start with trying the mojito green tea because I had tried black teas before that were extremely bitter so I thought there was a chance I would only like the flavor of the mojito green tea.

Zest Teas come in little mesh pouches that you drop into your cup of nearly-boiling water to let steep for 4-6 minutes. They have a unique sachet design that lets them stay slightly afloat without needing a string. I liked how convenient the tea sachets were because there was no loose leaves to clean up.

The sachet stays on top so it’s easy to remove. (this was right after it was dropped in. The teas get much darker)

I was impressed with the flavor of the mojito tea right away. It was surprisingly gentle (not bitter) without being too fruity or sweet. I was excited that I liked it so I moved on to trying the black teas. I thought the apple cinnamon tea would be my favorite because I love apple cinnamon oatmeal, breakfast bars, granola, cereal, etc. I did like the apple cinnamon tea but it wasn’t quite what I had expected. I picked up on the cinnamon but the apple was a bit understated. It was good, I just didn’t feel like the apple flavor stood out all that much. I also liked the earl grey tea, but my favorite was blue lady. It smells amazing, almost like a blue jolly rancher. The flavor doesn’t really match the scent (it’s not sugary or too sweet) but it tastes really good.

I was so glad that I liked all four flavors because I’m a rather picky person. I’ve never found a diet soda or any kind of coffee that I like the taste of just to give you an idea of how picky I am! So enjoying all four of these speaks volumes. I found all of them to have a good balance of flavors to avoid being too sweet or too bitter. I was more excited to realize that the caffeine does the trick for me. If I make a cup when I’m just starting to feel sluggish I can turn right around within 45 minutes or so and feel ‘awake’ again. I’ve definitely found my solution for a low-calorie afternoon pick-me-up. If you’re looking for a low-calorie caffeine option I’d definitely recommend Zest Teas.

Win it: A four tins of Zest high caffeine Teas, one container of each flavor! A $49.95 value.

To enter: Fill out the Giveaway Tools form below by 11:59pm ET on 5/1/2016. Giveaway is open to the US.

Emily

Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.

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