Rooibos Yerba Mate from Samovar

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75/100

Rooibos Yerba Mate

Rooibos Yerba maté Blend by Samovar

Origin: Organic, shade-grown yerba maté and organic rooibos blended in the U.S.

Flavor Profile: A blend of mellow, woody rooibos and pungent, bittersweet maté with complex notes of spice, earth and forest.

Tea Story: Rooibos is a caffeine-free, antioxidant-rich herb from South Africa. Yerba Maté is a high-caffeine, antioxidant-rich herb from South America. Both have traditional uses in herbal medicine and in daily consumption. Both are gaining loyal followings in the U.S. for their distinctive flavor profiles.

Our blend of Rooibos Yerba Maté is slightly heavier on rooibos than yerba maté, so it is lower in caffeine than our Sweet Yerba Maté and mellower than our Peppermint Yerba Maté. The dry aroma is pungent and bittersweet, with pinewood sweetness.

It infuses into a deep, slightly cloudy orange brew with assertive scents of dry leaves, wet wood, molasses and earth with aspects of roasted barley, mineral, medicine and clove cigarettes. The taste is bittersweet, with notes of dried redwood, oak and pine, toasted bran, fresh-tilled clay and cinnamon-anise spiciness.

The aftertaste is bittersweet and woody, with the mouth-feel of cinnamon tannins and cracked black pepper. This blend is organic certified, and the yerba maté was patiently shade-grown for a smoother, less bitter taste.

Samovarian Poetry: South America meets South Africa. Deliciousness ensues.

Food Pairings: Rooibos Yerba Maté is pairs resplendently with spiced, non-creamy sweets or bittersweet vegetables. Sweet pairings include flaky apple Danishes, crisp Bartlett pears dipped in yellow-curry-spiced semi-sweet chocolate, cinnamon-molasses oatmeal with raisins, or spiced pumpkin bread.

Savory options include steamed kale with ume plum marinade, red cabbage or asparagus sautéed with mirin wine and ginger root, oven-roasted turnips, parsnips and rutabagas, or roasted hard gourds, like butternut squash, spaghetti squash or pumpkin.

1 Tasting Note

Ricky
80

So it seems that no one likes the combination of yerba mate + rooibos. Oh well, I guess I’ll be the first then. My second batch of Samovar samplers arrived and I wanted something with a bit more of a caffeine kick this morning so I figured why not yerba mate it is. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to have much of a caffeine kick. I’m slowly nodding off as I’m typing this. Caffeine doesn’t substitute sleep! Oh if only…

So this is a decent yerba mate, but I prefer the grassy green in kukicha’s yerba mate over this. This is a nice blend, basically yerba mate followed by a bit of rooibos. For those who dislike rooibos, but enjoy plain yerba mate, this one probably won’t be that bad for you. The rooibos flavor is definitely there, but it’s pretty light. Personally, this is good cup, but it isn’t spectacular enough for me to want to purchase a tin. Kukicha… is another story =]

First infusion is pretty strong, second one starts to grow weak.

205 °F / 96 °C
4 min 0 sec
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