Samurai Chai Maté

I like this tea, I don’t love it, I just like it. It is a very nice spicy tea admittedly, but maybe just a bit too spicy for me. I like to add this tea to the Coco Caramel Sea Salt and it’s perfect. This is a good tea to mix in with other teas, not so great on it’s own. What I’m really excited for with this tea is to cook with it! I got a recipe for chicken rub and I want to make it for a Superbowl party at college. Here’s the recipe incase you are feeling adventurous!

1 tbsp. Teavana Samurai Chai Mate Tea
2 tbsp. rosemary leaves
2 tbsp tarragon
sea salt to taste

Directions
Skin and trim your chicken legs
Prepare the rub(s) of choice
Cover an oven safe pan with tinfoil and lightly coat with olive oil
Brush each chicken leg with olive oil, coat it with your rub and place the leg on your pan
Let the drummies sit for a couple hours (to best soak up all the flavor)
Then, preheat oven to 400 degrees
Bake for 28-30 minutes

This is the tea that got me into loose leaf tea. I originally liked it because it tasted sweet without having to add any sugar. I picked this up again a few days ago. I tried it straight, I tried mixing it with a black tea, but nothing made me enjoy this again. The cinnamon is too strong and I believe the mate or chemical taste that is coming through just turns me off. I guess my tastes have changed.

I feel very confused by this tea.
Last time I had it, I had added a tiny bit of sugar, but even that was too much for this tea. It made it almost undrinkably sweet. It wasn’t right. So, today, I’m trying it straight up.

I’m finding this one to be confused. I almost feel like it’s having an identity crisis. This tea knows it should be chai flavoured and it’s trying, but at the same time, I feel it’s trying to be something mellower and softer than what it is. It’s trying to be fruity too, but it’s not quite succeeding.
The cinnamon is the strongest flavour in the tea for sure. It’s really all I can taste. I think I can taste the caradmon too. I thought it was nutmeg for a moment there. It’s almost got a cinnamon/nutmeg taste like the cookies I make, but it doesn’t quite work for me for this tea. I might have to try it with milk or try it as a latte.

Straight up I leave feeling sad… haha It’s such a sweet tea… it’s too much…

Love drinking this tea in the winter time

I picked a few ounces of this up at my local Teavana store last weekend as I love both chai and mate teas. I decided to give it a try this morning.
To begin with, the scent of the dried mixture is amazing. I loved the spicy aroma. Even the tea steeping was quite intoxicating.
I used just a touch of rock sugar and a bit of coconut milk creamer. The first few sips were quite delicious, but I must admit that the clove and cinnamon almost became overwhelming for me. Eventually, that was all I could taste and they were quite overpowering.

I will give it another try, because the initial flavors were so good, so we’ll see.

I did use only 1 tsp instead of the recommended 1 1/2. I’m glad, because I think 1 1/2 tsp would have been very overwhelming.

This has to be one of my favorite teas to drink in the morning. Make a cup of this and you’ve got the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. Nice for those mornings that you need an extra kick!

The smell is almost intoxicating. As another reviewer mentioned, it smells a lot like Big Red bubble gum. Lots of cinnamon and other spices in this one. I’d almost recommend using 1 teaspoon instead of 1.5 just because the spices can be overwhelming sometimes.

So far this is my only mate tea that I’ve tried but I have a feeling it’s going to remain my favorite.

I bought a cup of this in-store, so I cannot remember how long the steep time was, nor do I know the water temperature. I tried it with a tiny scoop of German rock sugar because I like my chai sweet, although I wish that I had some milk or soy milk to go with it.

To me, the cinnamon is the most prominent flavor. I am not familiar with maté, and my knowledge of rooibos is limited, but I must say that this is a pleasant blend. I have read that maté contains carcinogens, so I probably won’t drink it again, but it is a warm, flavorful blend that reminds me of autumn.

With my first steeping I pick up pineapple and cinnamon. It always reminds me of the ewoks except they are little cinnamon bears dancing around.
My second steeping I could detect the cardamom and anise I believe. It still tastes mostly of pineapple and cinnamon with the cinnamon being the strongest flavor.
I think this is one of the best teas to wake up to in the morning. It will definitely perk a person up.

I got this via tea swap with my friend. I can’t tolerate mate plain, but with other flavors, I can. And rooibos, too? I like! The blend is quite tasty and original from other chai teas. It’s like a tropical chai. I bet some coconut milk would be tasty in this. I took it with sugar and cream. I really loved the blend of spices.

This is one of the first teas that I ever experienced with Teavana. The aroma is intoxicating. I like the flavor but I think it can be tongue numbing. I like it but not as much as the My Morning Mate