I was nosing through my professor’s tea basket today after class and saw this tea. In the middle of sniffing it, she encouraged me to take some for the road since nobody else was drinking it. This was one of the teas that I have been wanting to try, so I plunked it down in a little Styrofoam cup and brewed it on the spot.
I think I brewed this around 6-7 minutes while I was walking to my next class. The water was at a lower temperature than normal, so I figured a longer steep time wouldn’t hurt it. I drank it hot and plain.
This was my first time trying a mate. I’m still not sure what to expect from one, but I could feel the effect it had on me. I was a little drowsy after class and I knew I would be in danger to not pay attention in my next class. After I drank this I was alert, barely doodled, and took more notes than normal. Considering that this was my last class of the day, the tea perked me up.
The chocolate is subtle. I saw the cocoa powder falling off of the bag when I put it in my cup. The bag itself smelled like dark chocolate hot cocoa powder. I get the taste of the cocoa in the back of my throat and on my tongue during the after taste more than when I was drinking the tea. The taste of the tea was light and reminded me of mocha. Only without the aftertaste of a bad espresso that most coffee drinks leave me with.
I can’t wait to go back to my class to get more of this tea. If I had it in my personal stash, I would have drank at least two cups of it today. This is a tea that I would recommend and that I plan to pick up in the future. I also have plans to try different types of mate.
