drank Menta by Mateina
15575 tasting notes

Montreal Tea Festival – Tea #13

There were two yerba mate booths at the festival that we saw, this one and one carrying yerba mate RTDs (more on those later) – and I found both really interesting! I own a traditional mate gourd, and I like mate a lot but I’ve probably only used my gourd a total of three times in the four or five years I’ve owned it!? You use a decent amount of mate when brewing in the gourd, so I can’t really use it when I only buy like 25-50g of mate from a company to try out. But really, the main problem is that I haven’t found a good yerba mate to buy where I haven’t had to purchase something crazy like a minimum of 750g of it! Yerba mate isn’t very dense – that’s a whole lot of mate!! And I don’t know where the hell I’m gonna store it, it’s not like I’m drinking mate daily…

So, I was really hoping to find at least one mate here I could pick up, since they were selling in 220g increments – which seems like the perfect amount! This was one of two blends they were sampling hot; I got a chance to try both of them and of the two I preferred this one. It’s got a bit of that smoky grassy/herbaceous mate note, but ultimately I found it very smooth and the mint, while subtler than anticipated, was nice and crisp/refreshing. I like the idea of a nice mint/mate combo to start off the morning with, so based on the sample I tried I did actually end up picking up this flavor – along with a third flavour that I didn’t get a chance to try but that smelled fucking INCREDIBLE.

Frolic

Did they have their silicone gourds out? I’ve never drank yerba mate traditionally but I just went to their site and am intrigued.

Roswell Strange

They did! They looked pretty cool, though I didn’t pick one up because I have a traditional one already (that I already underutilize, so didn’t feel like I needed another). They also had a range of more traditional ones for sale too, but I don’t see them listed on their website.

Roswell Strange

Yes, this looks like the same thing! :)

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Frolic

Did they have their silicone gourds out? I’ve never drank yerba mate traditionally but I just went to their site and am intrigued.

Roswell Strange

They did! They looked pretty cool, though I didn’t pick one up because I have a traditional one already (that I already underutilize, so didn’t feel like I needed another). They also had a range of more traditional ones for sale too, but I don’t see them listed on their website.

Roswell Strange

Yes, this looks like the same thing! :)

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Hello! My name is Kelly, though many people in the tea community call me Ros or Roswell.

I am a mid-twenties tea addict, blogger, and all around nerd. I grew up in the Prairies, but a few years ago I relocated to Quebec to pursue a career with DAVIDsTEA in the tea industry! I’m still working on getting my French language skills down…

My first introduction to tea, in any form outside of instant and bottled iced tea, was about seven years ago when I happened to stumble upon DAVIDsTEA while looking for a birthday present for a friend! I tried their Birthday Cake rooibos blend, and I’ve been hooked on tea ever since! In those seven years; I was introduced to the online tea community, expanded my interest in flavoured teas to include a deep love and appreciation for straight teas and traditional brewing methods, got a tea themed tattoo, started reviewing teas, amassed a sizable tea and teaware collection, became a TAC certified Tea Sommelier, & even came full circle by beginning a career in the tea industry with DAVIDsTEA!

I consider myself a Jack of all Teas, and strive to have a knowledge and appreciation of all tea types, formats, and styles of drinking. I don’t like to feel boxed in to just being a “flavoured tea” or “straight tea” drinker – my expectations may vary depending on the type of tea or how it’s been processed/prepared but if it’s good tea, it’s good tea no matter how it’s been made!

You name it, I probably drink it- and I’ll absolutely try anything at least once.

My default method of preparation is hot, Western style, and straight – but I’m not opposed to additions if I’m in the right mood. If I ever add something to a tea or use a different method of preparation I will ALWAYS call it out in the tasting note though.

I like to listen to music when drinking tea, especially when I’m brewing a large pot at a time or steeping Gongfu. Often I curate very intentional tea and music pairings, and sometimes I share them here in my tasting reviews. Music is something that I find can deeply affect the experience of having tea.

I’m also one half of the “tea and fandom” podcast GeekSteep where, weekly, we discuss newly explored fandoms over tea as well as try to figure out the perfect tea to pair with each fandom. You can find us on Spotify and Apple & Google podcasts.

Favourite flavour notes/ingredients: Pear, lychee, cranberry, cream, melon, pineapple, malt, roasty, petrichor, sweet potato, heady florals like rose, hazelnut or walnut, sesame, honey (in moderation), and very woody shou.

Least favourite flavour notes/ingredients:
Lemongrass, ginger, strongly spiced profiles (and most Chai in general), mushrooms, seaweed, chamomile, stevia, saltiness or anything that reminds me too much of meat that isn’t supposed to taste like meat…

Currently exploring/obsessed with: Sheng from Yiwu, Yancha (Qilan in particular), anything with a strong sweet potato note. Also, I need to try ALL the root beer teas! Searching for a really good caramel flavoured blend, ideally with a black tea base.

Please contact me at the instagram account listed below if you would like me to review your teas.

Currently I’m employed in the tea department of the DAVIDsTEA head office. While I’m still sharing my own personal thoughts on new & existing DAVIDsTEA blends, I am no longer numerically rating them due to the obvious conflict of interest. Any comments expressed are a reflection of my own thoughts and opinions, and do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of the company. Any DAVIDsTEA blends you currently see with a numeric score were reviewed prior to my being hired there and have not been adjusted since becoming a DAVIDsTEA employee.

Location

Montreal, QC, CA

Website

https://www.instagram.com/ros...

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