The Good: Tastes exactly like what it is supposed to! Easy to prepare, Inexpensive
The Bad: Caffeine Free
The Basics: Celestial Seasonings executes perfectly its promised flavors with the Watermelon Lime Zinger, but it is still a tough sell for me!
I have it on good authority from the person who knows me best, that I am a tough person to please. Sometimes something can be done entirely right and if I don't like it, I end up panning it. She's right, of course, and there is something inherently unfair about that. If one sets out to make a gross-tasting jelly bean and one makes something that makes the consumer gag, then it is hard not to call that a rousing success. One of my issues in the past has always been, "it doesn't matter how good the terrible flavor is; I don't want to eat it." As a little sign of growth, I have been trying to evolve my reviewing to reflect both my high standards and my opinions. My reviews have evolved before - I recently started double-rating my trading card reviews so the objective quality of the set is given one rating and then another rating that factors in the collectibility of the set. And from the very beginning, I have noted media works that are exceptionally well-made, but that I would never watch a second time. Tonight, I extend that same flexibility to my food reviews. The food that made me reconsider how I rate food reviews was the Celestial Seasonings Watermelon Lime Zinger tea.
Watermelon Lime Zinger does an exceptional job of embodying both the flavor of watermelon and that of limes, making for a pretty perfect herbal tea . . . but I don't want to drink another cup of it.
Basics
Watermelon Lime Zinger is a hibiscus tea from Celestial Seasonings. It is a 100% natural herb tea that has no caffeine because all of the all natural herbs in it are naturally devoid of caffeine. Watermelon Lime Zinger comes in Celestial Seasoning's standard stringless tea bags, which are paired together with easy to separate perforations that allow one to separate the tea bags. When I make pots of tea, I tend to use four bags and leave them connected. A box of Watermelon Lime Zinger comes with ten pairs (20 individual) of tea bags.
Watermelon Lime Zinger is marketed as a Watermelon Lime flavored tea and it is entirely accurate to both of those flavors.
Ease Of Preparation
Watermelon Lime Zinger is a tea, which means preparation is as easy as boiling a pot of water! A single tea bag will make the standard 8 oz. coffee mug worth of tea, though reusing the tea bags yields little more than hot water. These tea bags cannot be reused and even credibly call the result "tea." I tend to make my tea using a 32 oz. steeping tea pot and that works well, though it is impossible to get a decent second pot out of the bags. My attempts found the second pot yielded a broth that was - at best 3/8 as strong as the original pot.
To prepare Watermelon Lime Zinger, simply boil some water, and pour it over the tea bags in a cup, mug or steeping pot. This tea is recommended to take four to six minutes to steep and after a couple cups and pots, I've found that with truly boiling water, the tea is ready at the four minute mark and letting it steep longer strangely does not change the results. Letting the tea steep more than six minutes does not net any additional flavor, nor does it denature the flavor of the tea.
When visiting the Celestial Seasonings plant in Boulder, Colorado and taking the free tour there, I remember distinctly the tour guide warning us all that with the Zinger teas milk cannot be added. If you add milk to a Zinger tea, the tea curdles the milk.
Taste
Watermelon Lime Zinger smells strongly of the promised watermelon. The scent of watermelon is distinct and realistic, exactly like one might expect of watermelons, warm in the field. The strength of the aroma of this tea makes it very inviting for anyone who actually likes watermelon.
In the mouth, the Watermelon Lime Zinger is sweet and watery, like one expects of a watermelon. Just as the flavor reaches its peak, though, the sourness of the lime kicks in. The citrus sour of the lime cuts the initial sweetness and overwhelms any vague, watery flavor of the watermelon, finishing the experience on a sour note that is appropriately reminiscent of limes.
The Watermelon Lime Zinger leaves a slightly sour aftertaste in the mouth for about five minutes after the last of it is consumed.
Nutrition
It's surprising that the dominant flavors of Watermelon Lime Zinger are watermelon and lime, considering that the primary ingredients are: hibiscus, rosehips and orange hips before the natural watermelon and lime flavors. While there are no watermelons or limes, real fruit is represented in the tea by the orange peels and blackberry leaves! Watermelon Lime Zinger tea is 100% natural and it is caffeine-free.
Were it not for sweeteners I add sometimes when I make pots of Watermelon Lime Zinger, this tea would be devoid of any nutritional value. It contains no calories, fat, sodium, carbohydrates or protein.
Storage/Clean-up
Watermelon Lime Zinger is easy to clean up after - the tea bags may be disposed in the garbage, or composted if you have a good garden and/or compost pile. The tea is fairly light, even at full strength, but it would probably stain, if one left it on fabric for a long time. Mugs that hold the tea rinse clean. Spills ought to be cleaned up quickly to prevent this tea from staining fabrics, though that's a pretty good general rule not just limited to the Watermelon Lime Zinger tea.
Overall
Watermelon Lime Zinger is objectively amazing. Celestial Seasonings gets the promised flavors perfectly right, but the flavors are not incredible and the sourness of the lime in this hot, fruity beverage quickly overwhelms the more mild flavor of the watermelon. The result is a drink that is well-made for what it promises, but is not enjoyable to drink.
For other Celestial Seasonings tea reviews, please check out my takes on:
Organics Cinnamon & Cardamom Tea
The Godfather Black Tea Concentrate
Lemon Zinger
9/10 (NOT RECOMMENDED)
For other tea reviews, please visit my index page for an organized listing!
© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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