Maté Chai from Element Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Yerba Maté

Where to Buy:  Element Tea

Product Description:

Boost circulation and stimulate your senses with this popular blend of Yerba Mate and Masala Chai Spices. For a sweeter and creamier finish, add milk and sugar.

Ingredients: Mate Green, Cinnamon, Ginger Bits, Cardamom, Cloves, Fennel, Anise Seed

Taster’s Review:

I love chai (and when I say “chai,” I mean the beverage that is made from a masala spice blend … with or without tea or other leaf types, like the green Yerba Maté leaf used in this blend).  I enjoy it year ’round, but I find it especially enjoyable this time of year.  The spices warm me from the inside out, and the zesty flavor is very invigorating.

The spices dominate this tisane, and what I taste most are the fennel and anise seed.  They give a sweet, licorice-y kind of taste to this chai, and I’m really liking that.  (I’m quite fond of black licorice!)  While the cinnamon does not present a really strong presence in this cup, I like the way it mingles with the fennel and anise.

The ginger, cloves and cardamom are pretty well balanced here.  One of these spices does not seem to be stronger than the others, they all seem pretty even.  Every once in a while, a flavor will pop out that I recognize distinctly as one particular spice, but for the most part, it is a very unified set of spices.

The green Yerba Maté of this blend lends an earthy, somewhat vegetative taste to the cup.  It isn’t nearly as strong a flavor as the spices, of course, but, it really adds an interesting dimension of flavor to the cup.  The earthy notes are a pleasing contrast to the licorice-y flavors.

I recommend drinking this hot with a dollop of honey to help round out the flavors.  I didn’t drink mine with milk, but, I think it would be quite nice as a latte.  This turned out to be one of the nicest Yerba Maté Chai blends I’ve tried!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Chai, Yerba Maté

1 thought on “Maté Chai from Element Tea”

  1. I also love Chai! This time of year is so perfect for it. I’ve always made mine with milk and with black tea. I will definitely have to try the yerba style. Always love a new tea to taste! 🙂

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