Green Mate

I enjoy many mate blends, and I really love guayusa… but this green mate doesn’t really do it for me.

I want to like it so much, but there is this strange sort of smoky flavor that is really throwing me. It’s kind of earthy, like a fire pit or something? I don’t know, it’s hard to explain.

I still finished my cup, but definitely did not want to steep again.

The leaves in the tin are beautiful – small, evenly chopped, smooth and silky, sort of like confetti. I have to confess to running my fingers through it like a child :)

The tea straight I don’t love. It’s not bad, but it’s not really a flavor I go for. I don’t know how to describe it… A bit vegetal but without the spinach overtones. Sweet, in a sense.

I’m drinking it iced right now with a bit of spearmint and lavender honey, and it’s a fantastically invigorating summer drink. Even if I don’t like it plain, I’ll definitely order more.

I guess this is probably your generic, green maté as it should taste, but to be honest, I never drank any other plain maté than this one, so I’m not in a position to compare. I don’t think I’ll try another any soon either; why go for something new when what I find to be totally perfect is right in my cupboard? For some reason, I never get tired of the maté taste, quite the opposite, I always feel like having some. The taste is so complex, yet so light that I could drink many many cups in a row. I’m afraid I can’t find the right adjectives to describe it. Surely, it’s a bit grassy, but in a different way than senchas. It’s slightly sweet, maybe more so in the aftertaste, which reminds me of maple water (the stuff that comes directly out of the trees – maybe you have to be Canadian to have tasted that previously ;P). There’s also this distinctive taste that I can’t get enough of, but I can’t think of anything else tasting like it for comparison. And through all this, there’s still a refreshing feeling, maybe because it’s light: I would compare this sensation to that of a good white tea. I’m really happy it’s so cheap, if it was expensive, I could really ruin myself for this stuff!

This is only my second time having a pure mate, and wow what a different flavour than the first one I tried (Adagio’s). I was dreading this one, since the one I’d had from Adagio had been a very green and unappealing flavour to me. But I’m working on the entire David’s wall so sacrifices must be made.

And I’m so glad that I tried this one! It has redeemed mates for me. I agree with the other tasting note that compares to Genmaicha. There’s a roasted toasted type flavour to this that makes it a pleasant tea to sip while I’m reading all the reviews you guys have posted while I slept. I just finished my cup and I have an aftertaste in my mouth that is like toast and caffeine, but not offensively so (less burnt coffee and more pleasant). I’m very glad I tried this now, and am looking forward to the rest of the mates on the wall!

Dry this one reminded me of Guayusa – which I love. It has a slightly different scent steeped – not so much Guayusa but still I’m excited to try this.

Hmm there’s something smoky in there that I’m really not loving. Yeah, nope that smokiness is way to much for me. Oh darn, I had high hopes for this one.

Thanks to Eisenherz’s comment, I have tried this plain maté. I adore matés so I wonder why I never gave this one a try before… it is so tasty and clean! Sophisticated in such a nice way. The maple water does come to mind, and the natural sweetness makes me want to drink it all day long. Maybe we should keep it a secret, this way the price will remain low, 8$ for 100gr, what a bargain!!!

Big fan of the Green Mate! I really like this, it’s a little green tasting which is a nice change from the roasted mate that seems a little too close to coffee for my liking. I take this one clear, or with a little agave if I’m in the mood for something slightly sweeter. It’s a great early morning tea as it does bive a good jolt in the morning. Before breakfast though, not with. I also turn to this one fairly regularly in the evenings when I am trying to stay up and alert to finish a paper or some other literature assignment. good times.
This one is a keeper on my tea shelves for sure!

I liked this one. I put a little honey in it. I get a grassy taste. Love the smell of this too. I recommend this to anyone who hasn’t had an unflavored mate.

To be honest? I only have one complaint about this tea and it has nothing to do with taste.

This mate tastes great. I’m a big fan of mate since one of my Argentinian friends introduced me to it, and I’ve had mate from all across South America. This tastes just as good, if not better, than most of those.

The ONLY downside is if you plan on drinking this mate like you traditionally drink mate in South America. You put about 4 times more mate in the gourd than you would for just one cup, and just keep topping the gourd up with water. I end up going through almost 1.5 L of water in one gourd with about 3 tsp worth of mate. The problem? Because the pieces are so small, they start to break up and I end up sucking them up through my bombilla (and I have the DAVIDsTEA bombilla, too, so no excuses!).

For the taste and price? Can’t be beat.

I keep a stash of this handy in the fridge, cold-steeped for 24hrs. I then heat it up and brew other teas in the hot brewed mate. It gives a really good jolt without too much flavour, so is versatile for mixing with herbals that taste awesome but don’t give you the morning boost. I don’t like hot steeping it, I find it burns fairly easily, like a green tea. That being said, the blends that DT offers that have green mate in them don’t get the burnt taste to them if I use hot water. Weird. Anywho, cold steeping it, it’s impossible to oversteep. Half the time I leave the leaves in the pitcher for days and only filter it out when I pour it. Right now there’s no room for a pitcher in the fridge, so I have some dixie cups in the deep freeze full of it, and I use them to chill iced tea without watering it down too much and adding a boost.

Day 52 of my 101 days of DAVIDsTEA. 2tsp in my teaball, brewed in-mug.

I’m a fan of some of the other maté teas (especially chocolate rocket!) so I decided to try this straight today. The taste reminded me of potato skin, oddly enough — there was a simmilar earthy salty-bitterness. A good earthy salty-bitterness, I should add. Not my favourite flavour ever, but certainly not bad either.

My favourite DAVIDs employee suggested mixing it with other teas — especially herbal ones — to add that caffeine kick. I actually tried that with some Alpine Punch I wanted to resteep, it added a nice grounded dimension to the flavour. I’ll enjoy experimenting with the tea. And for the price? Definitely wothwhile to play around with!

I don’t really enjoy drinking straight mate, I prefer to mix it with fruity herbals and it’s good for that purpose

I often drink this in powdered form. What I would do is take the powder, put it in my water bottle and shake for my mate drink. I would usually drink this cold.

Fast forward to now where I am drinking this hot. I actually like the taste that comes out more…very roasted and delicious. This tea definitely has potential. I don’t really know how to describe this…it’s has a very nice flavour to it! I am not a fan of the frequent bathroom trips though.

This loose leaf is one of the most simplest to make. I make this tea every morning when I’m in a hurry. Doesn’t need too much attention with this tea, it’ll turn out mostly the same. So if you’re in a rush to go to school/work, this is good. No fancy gaiwan or large tea pots, just a cup with a mesh ball or a steeper will give you the same taste.

Great to have in the morning, this tea is ideal for everyone! This does contain a large amount of stimulants, but some say it doesn’t work. At first, it doesn’t work as well as coffee… BUT it’s something that you have to keep on drinking to feel the stimulants actually activating in your brain. IT WORKS! :D

Definitely not a bad tea. To me, it’s sort of like a Genmaicha, but without all the toasty rice flavour that I find so off-putting. I often find Genmaicha way too vegetal and sort of dirt-y tasting. The maté thankfully has none of those notes, just a subtle toasty-ness that is definitely not unpleasant :)

Nice on a summer evening after a light meal, or as a companion for your morning commute.