Name: Blue Lady

Brand: English Tea Store

Type: Black tea, flavored

Form: Loose leaf

Review: Looking for a fruity, sweet tea to serve this summer? Blue Lady may suit you very well.

The English Tea Store named this blend in honor of the various “Blue Lady” ghost sightings around the country. While I am not sure whether ghosts tend to favor flavored Ceylon teas, I can say that this blend may well hit the spot with those who do.

This tea is made from a base of wiry, dark brown Ceylon tea leaves. The leaves are flavored with grapefruit, orange, passionfruit and grenadine and some blue cornflowers are added for color. The tea infuses to a light-bodied medium amber liquor with a fruity nose (the passionfruit dominates).

Blue Lady is remarkably sweet on its own, so no additional sweetener is required. I found it difficult to identify different flavors while drinking this tea, though the passionfruit and grenadine seemed to be the most prominent. Instead, the tea’s flavors meshed together in the way that fruit punches often do. If you are a fruit punch or fruit cocktail fan, you’ll like Blue Lady just fine.

Incidentally, I tried Blue Lady hot and iced and definitely preferred it on ice, though it works just fine as a hot drink. While I am not a soda or energy drink person, if you are, you should give iced Blue Lady a try: It is inexpensive and very sweet without added sugar. Substitute this tea for your other drinks and you can save both some money, and some calories during these hot months.

Preparation Tips: Use boiling water to prepare Blue Lady and allow it to steep for about four minutes. While it is fine as a hot tea, I found it to be tastier when iced.

Serving Tips:  This is definitely a summer tea and one that can easily be served with most foods. Try making a big pitcher of iced Blue Lady tea for your next picnic or barbeque.

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