MateVana

The reviews are all over the map on this one, and I fall into the “where’s the chocolate?” camp. I love mate but this tastes like smokey bark. Actually dislike it unless it gets a splash of almond milk, that helps a lot. I’m almost tempted to add sugar but I never do that when rating a tea. Maybe I got a bad batch. As a coffee substitute it moderately succeeds, based mostly on its depth/body. I really like Guayaki’s Javamate, in either Vanilla or Mocha Maca flavors, as a coffee substitute. Both of them leave Matevana in the dust flavor-wise, plus Guayaki’s a good company, socially, and the products contain another rainforest superfood, ramon nut.

Still feeling under the weather after being sick now for three weeks. Doc has me off work and I’m feeling a bit drained, so I thought I’d have a cup of mate which always seems to perk me up nicely!

This cuppa is no exception. After drinking it I feel more alert and energized than I have in days. The chocolate and mate compliment each other nicely, and it creates a nice strong brew. A little bit nutty and sweet on its own, many more of the flavours come out with sweetening. It has a great smooth mouth feel, and is quite malty.

I can’t thank ToiToi enough for this sample! :) It’s my first introduction to Teavana, and it didn’t disappoint. There are no Teavana’s in my area, so depending on how some other samples turn out, I just may have to put in an order… sigh I think I have a problem! LOL

Let me say that I am impressed with Teavana’s ability to mask the typically quite-grassy flavor of mate. They have a Samurai Chai Mate that is hands down the best mate I’ve ever tasted, and easily up there as one of my favorite drinks.

Knowing that, we did some more research on the different mates that Teavana had, and decided to take some of this home.

This brews into a very mellow tea, but the flavors didn’t come together very well to me. The hint of chocolate, the rooibos, the earthy mate… it just wasn’t very appealing. It wasn’t necessarily offensive, it was just far from pleasurable. I’m still a little bit shocked about it… because it all sounds like it should work so well.

I couldn’t convince myself that it was anything I’d ever choose to drink again, so I gave the tea to my boss at work. She loved it.

I was surprised that, for the number of cocoa components it contains, I didn’t pick up any chocolate in either flavor or fragrance.
I had High Hopes that I would be able to find a tea with a strong chocolate note (this really did not do it for me) I think I have been spoiled after tasting Chocolate and Creme by TreeFrog (note to self place order)

Fisrt cup of the day. I love starting my day this way instead of coffee. It is so smooth and nutty. Watching the cornflower petals unfurl and to smell this while steeping builds the anticipation of a great cup of tea. I also love to get to the bottom of the mug for all of the yummy goodness that awaits me. Its kinda like a journey of deliciousness.

The first time I tried Matévana, was in a blend with Cococaramel Sea Salt. It was simply delicious, and I would really suggest you all try that blend.

So I guess you can all tell that this will be a good review ;) This is another coffee-like tea mixed with rooibos. This one is more chocolatey. It’s not a rich chocolatey flavor, but it’s noticeable. there is also a slight floral note from the marigold petals, and the rooibos tea just brings it all together and makes the tea very smooth and wonderful.

This also makes a good morning tea, served hot is best, in my opinion.

I really like this one. It has a real smooth texture. I sometimes add honey, but it’s really good by itself. It has a great smell and taste. Chocolatey and nutty. 3 tsp per 16 oz. and I steep three times.

This morning, I woke up and immediately entered a state of despair, realizing that I had run out of honey, rock sugar, stevia, and white sugar. Absolutely nothing to sweeten my tea. As it was so cold it felt like there were small minions of Satan nibbling at my face that morning, I didn’t want to make a run to the store just to enjoy this tea, so I took it without anything in it. It was pleasant enough. There’s a really nice, warm nuttiness to the tea. Not as much chocolate as the tea itself would suggest, but that was okay, too. I enjoyed this tea a lot. It gave me a nice morning kick, and I fretted no longer.

This was when my stroke of genius kicked in.

Now, the tea is nice without anything in it, but I thought it could be a bit sweeter. i baked pumpkin snicker-doodle cookies a while ago, and I had saved up some of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar mixture that coated the outside of the cookies in a small container just in case i had to whip up another batch. So I spooned a bit into my cup of nutty goodness, and it turned out lovely. However, now it was missing another thing… a snicker-doodle cookie.

So now I am a little saddened that I did not bake more cookies.

Positives: nutty, warm, clean, characteristic mate kick, instant distress relief
Negatives: not enough chocolate, could stand to be a bit sweeter, not having any cookies

It’s interesting how the chocolate and nuts can’t be tasted individually but instead make a flavor that’s very reminiscent of coffee. I always take this one with sweetener (just like I do with coffee) and I wish I had some milk or cream to make it a bit thicker.

I can’t think of any way to describe this besides “that coffee tea”, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing — I love the taste of coffee but not the way it makes my stomach feel or the over-the-top kick of caffeine it tends to give me. A good pick if you, too, want the taste of coffee but the effects of maté.

This has become my weekday morning brew. I make it in my Teavana perfect teamaker with about 3 heaping tsps and fill the teamaker. First steep is 6 minutes, second is 15. I can get a third out of it but since the instructions I’ve read for resteeping say to increase steep time by 150% each brew, it would require 38 minutes of steeping which just isn’t practical during the week. I do stretch it if the third steep falls on a weekend although then I’m usually exploring other caffienated teas.

I add a little brown sugar splenda blend (have to get the amount just right) to bring out the nutty flavor and sometimes I’ll toss in a splash of almond milk.

Yummy tea, energy, no jitters, and no crash. Works for me.