Organic Yerba Mate, Loose

I’ve been drinking mate’ for years. This is excellent. It seems smoother than a lot of the other brands you normally find on the shelves here. Worth a try.

Purchased out of curiosity, knowing nothing about maté really. 2 tbsp. for 16oz. of water brewed in a french press. 4 minutes was bordering on bitter, but I like that feeling from time to time. Very much like a generic green on the first taste, but slightly “darker” with a very faint sweetness toward the bottom half of the cup. I’m very glad I bought the full pound because I think this will be a great morning go-to tea for waking up.

It smells like catnip to me. LOL

But, I really enjoy the pick-me-up of this maté without the heaviness of coffee.

I definitely like a cup of yerba mate (unsmoked) when I need an interesting pick me up.

This tea is strong and yes it is definitely a tea that you must have an “acquired taste” for (cigarette aroma). But I definitely like its strong, astringent earthy flavor. It is refreshing over ice with a little bit of stevia. This is not a tea I would drink with a meal.

This has become my daily beverage of choice (not that I’ve given up coffee). The most important thing about yerba mate that I’ve discovered to keep it from getting bitter is something I saw in a snippet on another site – soak it in a little bit of cold water before brewing, just enough to get the leaves good and wet. I forgot to do this one time and it makes a HUGE difference in the flavor.

The way I have it:
2 Tbs yerba mate
1 Tbs dark chocolate chunks, broken up
2 tsp Oolong tea
1/4 tsp peppercorns
1/4 tsp whole cloves
a dash of nutmeg & cinnamon
Brew with 2.5 cups of water in an automatic drip coffee pot, add sugar and a dash of cream. I love it hot or iced!