Mate Factor

again, used it for cooking not drink straight up. This is a great recipe although I usually double it, and improvise w/ whatever ingredients I have on hand (tonight was carrots and green cabbage instead of mushrooms & spinach). And I always add garlic and red pepper flakes, and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
http://www.yingc.com/Food_Articles/Chicken_noodle/chicken_noodle.htm

I find the “funky” ginseng flavor of this too strong when brewed straight, so last night I threw a bag into the water when steaming some asparagus. The end result was a hint of flavor but nowhere near as strong as when brewed. Success! Hopefully some of the green tea & ginseng goodness infused themselves in to my veggies :-)

Thanks LiberTeas for sending me this! I think this one is in almost even with the Tazo, almost. Maybe if I brew it up just a little bit stronger…man I’m beginning to sound like a broken record with these chai teas…

SIPDOWN!

As the name suggests, this tastes like a roasted version of the green yerba mate I just drank. Wow, how incredible! The aftertaste does have a very coffee-like flavor. After trying it straight, I added milk and sweetener. Now it’s less like coffee and more like roasted mate tea.

I prefer the unroasted variety I think. But I’m very curious to hear what the husband thinks of it since he loves coffee the way I love tea. There’s just enough left to brew him a cup when he gets home. ;) Thanks to LiberTEAS for making this cuppa possible! This is the last overdue sample I had to try. Victory! :D

SIPDOWN! Almost time to go pay rent! Ouch. That always hurts. But this tea will get me through!

This isn’t so fresh anymore thanks to me. But now at least I can say I have a better idea of what unflavored green mate tastes like. It’s not bad! I think I actually like it. Thanks to LiberTEAS for providing this generous sample! I probably still prefer the flavored variety, but I really did want to try it unflavored. Another bucket list tea checked off! :)

I drink this yerba mate almost every day. Although I sometimes prefer other brands, Mate Factor is very consistent in it’s flavor and has a robust vegetale taste that is not astringent. It soothes the taste buds, and is definitely mellow in comparison to other yerba mates. It can hold a consistent flavor for about 4 or 5 steeping sessions depending on the amount of yerba in the gourd. If using a larger gourd you may get up to 8 solid sessions before the flavor begins to waver.

So, I had tried a few yerba mate blends before, and even got a surprise gourd, straw and pound of mate from some friends overseas a few years back. Admittedly at the time I was very politely ungrateful and all “My friends moved to Argentina and all I got was this nasty bitter dusty tea!” Though not out loud, of course. Turns out I just hated the type of mate. This stuff is much better.

This green mate is MUCH better than the dry dusty brown stuff I am used to. It has a bitterness still, but much more subdued, and it can stand on its own or particularly well with a bit of sweetener. I also tend to toss a bag of lipton lemongrass ginger tea in with this. Yeah, I said it. Trust me, (or better yet try it) – it’s good.

I’ve tried and tried but couldn’t enjoy the smoked stuff. Several of my friends developed a taste for it, but I suspect that has more to do with the buzz than the flavor. This has the same buzz but doesn’t taste like chewing a wet cigar out of an ashtray.

Retrying this with vetiver incense it tastes fine. I tried it previously while burning Dragon’s Blood incense, giving it an odd cough syrup tinge, and was ignorant to the source of this problem. I was more curious than concern since I new it was a type of resin. Looking it up, it could come from a number of trees, including Calamus , which are growing by my porch! Dragon’s blood is also used for ink and varnish, which would through off anyone’s sense of taste. A roasted yerba mate or a heavily oxidized oolong might work better but I doubt burnt varnish pairs well with anything. XD

David Duckler has me thinking about how incense and tea interact, this tisane is a good example. Usually it’s a bit grassy and bitter on its own (due to my forgetting about my drink for a good hour or so), but when I burned some Dragon’s Blood incense today to scare off the bugs, the taste took on oddly medicinal and sweet taste. I needed a honey cough drop after forsaking sleep and it tastes like my evening mate. Very interesting…however, I am too tired to ponder the specifics of this. A repeat experiment (I certainly have enough work to get through) is something I look forward to trying.

This coffee like tea was in my health food store – I have tried other Mate teas and they just didn’t do it for me like this one does It brews up to look like coffee but it isn’t - It has a nice smooth taste and it needs no sugar or cream to enjoy - I was pleasantly suprised by how much I liked this tea - I will try the other ones they have It has a very smooth taste to it not bitterness at all - This is an excellent Yerba Mate - and it does give a mild kick to the day -- no jitters at all —