Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Maté
Where to Buy: Tea Addiction
Product Description:
Ingredients: Yerba maté, cacao nibs, and vanilla flavoring. Get yourself going with this yerba maté chocolate treat! These leaves are believed to stimulate the immune system, decrease inflammation, and increase metabolism.
With the addition of cacao nibs, a myriad of vitamins as well as a natural anti-depressant “sweeten” the pot. Cacao is also thought to encourage mental alertness and clarity of mind. Try adding a touch of milk to make your cup of smooth and chocolaty Yin Yang Maté extra special!
Taster’s Review:
I am really enjoying this Yerba Maté blend.
The fragrance of the dry leaf is quite tempting – it smells like chocolate! YUM! The brewed liquor maintains the chocolate scent which now combines with a slightly toasty scent, a hint of vanilla and an earthy quality.
The flavor is a little surprising! There is a toasty/smoky/woodsy taste to the cup that I hadn’t expected. Usually, I do expect a light roasted flavor along with an earthy note and a vegetative quality, but not so much of a smoky wood flavor. It is not an off-putting flavor, just different.
As the cup cools, I find that the smoky wood flavor subsides as more of the earthy/vegetative quality emerges. The vegetative note is much less noticeable in these roasted Yerba Maté leaves, which trade in some of the vegetal taste for a more caramelized earth note, which plays off especially well with the cacao and vanilla flavors.
The cacao is more savory than sweet, but the addition of the vanilla gives it a sweet, creaminess that almost intimates at a milk chocolate note in the distance. You can enhance that flavor by the simple addition of a splash of milk, if you wish. I find this to be rather delightful without the milk – but I do recommend a dollop of honey or agave nectar to smooth out some of the bitter taste of the Yerba Maté.
This is the first that I’m trying from Tea Addiction – and I’m quite happy with it, and the company! They are incredibly nice, and as a tin collector I can’t overlook the sleek tins! I just love it when I find a new tea company!
Yerba Maté Mint from Choice Organic Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Maté
Where to Buy: Choice Organic Teas
Product Description:
Perk up with this refreshing twist on the traditional. Renowned for its natural kick, yerba maté grows in subtropical South America and has been enjoyed by gauchos for generations. We blend ours with peppermint, spearmint and a hint of lemongrass for a bright tea that’s light, cool and exhilarating. [contains caffeine]
Taster’s Review:
Exhilarating is right! The yerba maté is energizing, while the peppermint and spearmint is crisp and refreshing. Put these ingredients together and you’ve got one very exhilarating beverage, indeed!
This tisane is nicely balanced. It is minty, but not too minty. The yerba maté is slightly earthy but the mint offsets it enough so that it is easy to drink and not too earthy or vegetative. The lemongrass offers just a hint of citrus tones to the cup and adds an interesting dimension to the cup. There’s even a light tangy note from the citrus right at the finish that remains in the aftertaste.
And I really like the company. It is one that I really feel good about supporting, because not only are they organic and committed to the protection of our environment, but they also are involved with really good causes, such as the Jane Goodall Institute, a non-profit organization that is committed to the preservation of the lives and habitat of primates.
It is a very good tea and a tea I can feel good about!
Choco-Mate Tea from White August Tea Company
Tea Type: Yerba Mate/Rooibos Blend
Where To Buy: White August Tea Company
Product Description:
This energizing combination of sweet chocolate and south American mate is sure to stimulate your senses.
Tasters Review:
Over the last couple of months anything marked Choco & Mate I have been interested in trying! When I saw this one from White August Tea Company I was equally if not MORE excited to try it! All of the teas I have tried from this company I have enjoyed – as was the case with this specific offering!
Prior to infusing this smells like Chocolate Milk… Sweet Chocolate Milk!
After infusing it does lose a lot of the sweet aroma but you can still smell cocoa or chocolate just not as sweet and not nearly as strong as before infusing.
The taste is primarily Yerba Mate. The Sweet Chocolate flavor comes thru nicely but I would LOVE to try it with even more Chocolate flavor! There seems to be a little Rooibos Flavor coming thru, too. I have yet to put this to the test but I’m considering increasing the amount of loose leaf but infusing for a little less time to see if the chocolate comes thru more.
Regardless…this is tasty…a very good flavored Yerba Mate! I would suggest this to anyone looking for a flavored Yerba Mate, a flavored Rooibos, or a Chocolate or Cocoa Flavored Tisane!
Rio from The Tao of Tea
Tea Type: Yerba Mate
Where To Buy: The Tao of Tea
Product Description:
Native Name: Yerba Mate
Origin: Iguaçu Valley, Brazil
Plucking Season: Summer
Introduction: The forests of the Iguaçu Valley are ideal both in climate and soil for the best Yerba Mate. The Iguaçu, meaning ‘big water’, is home to an amazing array of flora and fauna as well as the breathtaking Iguaçu Falls.
Yerba Mate
Yerba Mate is native to the region around the rivers Paraná, Paraguay, Uruguay and their tributaries. The herb was first used by the Guaraní, an important indigenous tribal people who traditionally prepare the beverage in a gourd (a ‘cuia’ or ‘mate’) and sip through a filtered straw (a ‘bomba’ or ‘bombilla’).Yerba and Health
Similar to tea and dark chocolate, Yerba Mate contains the xanthines theobromine and caffeine known to increase mental alertness, focus and wakefulness. The herb is also rich in nutrients, vitamins and minerals and has been used in Guaraní remedies for centuries. Traditionally it has been used as a diuretic, a digestive aid, and to ease asthmatic symptoms. Recent studies have shown Yerba Mate to contain a significant amount of antioxidants.Flavor Profile: Cooling, clear, bitter sweet flavor notes.
Ingredients: 100% Organic Yerba Mate
Certified Organic by: Quality Assurance International (QAI)
Tasters Review:
When I received my package from The Tao Of Tea I was also going thru a Duran Duran Flashback/Kick or should I say my iPod Shuffle was forcing me into a Duran Duran Flashback! This was one of the songs that has been following me around – it seems. Anyhow, it just seemed fitting that I drink this while listening to Rio by Duran Duran, ya know!?
But…on to the actual Tea Review…
Rio from The Tao of Tea is a wonderful plain Yerba Mate or unflavored Yerba Mate. Normally I don’t really get too excited about Yerba Mate’s unless they are wonderfully flavored or have something that really stand outs. For me…this unflavored Yerba Mate was memorable because it was sweet, fresh, and clean tasting! If you are looking for a good go-to or a solid stand-by to always have on hand I would say Rio from The Tao of Tea should be on that list!
I really LOVE The Tao of Tea because they have a really great selection of teas and tisanes! They push organic and they focus on tea education, regions, history, and farmers! Their customer service is really top-notch, too! We have TONS of other reviews on tap for Tao of Teas so stay tuned!
Organic Green Tea Ginseng Mate from Mate Factor
Tea Type: Green Tea/ Yerba Mate Blend
Where To Buy: Mate Factor
Product Description:
Organic Green Tea Ginseng Mate Tea-Bags
with Echinacea100% Organic Ingredients:
Our Green Tea Ginseng tea box contains 20 large tea bags. All of our teabags contain 3 grams of tea, DOUBLE the size of most teabags on the market, so you can enjoy more of the flavor, nutrition, and energizing effects of Yerba Mate!
Ingredients:
American Ginseng root, Fresh Green Yerba Mate, Premium Japanese Sencha Green Tea, Echinacea Angustifolia Root and Echinacea Purpurea leaf.Our most powerful tea ever.
One taste will enlighten you to the delicate but powerful blend of this tea.
Tasters Review:
Organic Green Tea Ginseng Mate smells like socks! Yet…I’m giving it between an 80 and an 81 on my personal tea tasting scale! How can I rate something that high that I think smells like socks, you ask…keep reading!!!
FIRST…You know me! I have too look things up! I should really buy stock in Google AND Wikipedia! When I first saw the ingredients I wanted to learn more about the root and leaf they used in this!
Here is the specific root that this has in it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea_angustifolia
And here’s the leaf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea_purpurea
This is quite good…much better than I anticipated, actually! I don’t know why I waited so long to try it! The Ginseng with the Echinacea as 2nd and 3rd’s to the Yerba mate was genius! The Yerba Mate toned down how medicine-E everything else tasted and it works out pretty well! This DOES have a very pleasant taste!
And it’s good FOR you!!!