Mate Lemongrass

I first tried this mate years and years ago — and I found it at Whole Foods because a friend recommended Yerba Mate, and this was my first experience with it.

It’s good. The flavors match well. It’s nice hot or over ice, and doesn’t really get bitter. Still, that said, if you didn’t have a lot of internal motivation to specifically drink mate, I’d have to say that the same flavors in this blend work as well, or better, with green tea.

So I think there is definitely something to be said about pairing maté with citrus flavors. There are several different variations from different companies that all work quite well.

Personally, I have always preferred Numi’s “Mate Lemon Green – Rainforest Green” which is similar to this in many respects but opts to add “precious eyebrow” green tea to complement the maté and citrus flavors. I almost always choose loose leaf over bags, but this is one rare exception and I think even loose-leaf purists should give Numi’s bagged tea a try if you like Rishi’s Mate Lemongrass.

That said, this is a very pleasant drink that is lightly uplifting and tastes very refreshing. I usually will take sips while infusing this and err a little on the lighter side to avoid the tart unbalance of too much lemongrass flavor. This, of course, is personal taste.

A nice combination of flavors, but it doesn’t give me the jolt of energy that I thought mate would. I also think the other flavors might be drowning out the mate.

a bit powdery. probably works better with a tea pouch than an infuser. felt like an afternoon tea. I thought it would have much more caffeine and feel more perky being a yerba mate though. was very smooth and mellow.