Mate Factor

Backlogging. Last Wednesday morning. (Will I ever get through my tealog backlog? It just keeps growing!)

A generous sample of Dark Roast Mate was the second of two surprise inclusions in my tea swap with LiberTeas. I have never had mate before and the dry mate did not look or smell at all like I expected. It looks like dark dark brown chippies, much like rooibos or honeybush, and smells roasty, toasty, and slightly molasses-y. More reminiscent of coffee than I thought, given that some people on here had mentioned that it doesn’t taste like coffee.

I steep my husband up a mug the previous evening before he went on night shift. Steeped for five minutes, I thought it was a bit weak and could benefit from more steep time. I resteeped a second mug for him which was weak but still had plenty of drinkable flavor.

So, when I steeped mine that morning, I steeped it for two minutes longer. The mate was a dark dark brown and smelled similar to the dry mate but fainter. I enjoyed the first third of the mug but then the flavor turned overpowering to me and I gulped down the rest cause I needed the caffeine. I was put off by it and didn’t resteep. I haven’t had any since since I think I need to get the memory of the taste out of my head before I try it again. I did like the mug I made my husband so I know it was likely steeping it too long.

I’m rating this mate a 60, which is the beginning of my nice range (60-70), cause I liked it initially then messed up the steeping. I suspect it will change with further drinking and better steeping.

I am still feeling just a little “off” – a little sluggish, so I need some Yerba Mate. Some mornings, black tea is enough for me, other mornings, I really need the power of the Mate!

You can read my full review of this tea here:

http://sororiteasisters.com/2010/09/29/organic-fresh-green-yerba-mate-from-mate-factor/

I was very nervous to try this tea. I have stood by the notion that I do not like green yerba mate for a long time now… and this is pure, fresh, unflavored and unfettered green yerba mate. I was certain I wouldn’t like it.

But I was wrong. This is really refreshing. It tastes really good. It doesn’t have that overly earthy quality that I normally associate with yerba mate. It isn’t smoky. It is slightly sweet and just barely vegetative. Very pleasant. And invigorating!

I’ve been sitting on this one a while – no not literally – lol – not really sure why other than maybe having too much ginger in tea/tisanes and not being overly thrilled with it.

BUT…this one was much better than most of my Ginger-eque attempts.

This one was much more lemon than ginger and I am very happy about that.

This is lemony with a hint of ginger and tasty and refreshing! Now I am questioning why I waited to try it! DOH!

Add this to your favorite tea & get all the add benefits & a very good energy boost!

This has no aroma and it’s flavor is mellow but pleasant. A little sweet.

Feeling a bit drowsy and the weather outside isn’t helping (it’s making me want to curl up in bed!) I decided to brew a cup of this to help keep me alert. Yummy as always.

It is also quite tasty when consumed with Creamy Caramel Filled Werthers…

Just got back from running errands and am going to be dashing out the door in less than a half an hour, just enough time to enjoy a cup of Yerba Mate (and I need it too!)

Rich, smooth, dark, and just yummy!

Here’s my full-length review:

http://www.teareviewblog.com/?p=13909

Ugh… Monday already.

I have an appointment this morning, so I can’t go back to bed and take a nap. So, it’s Mate to the rescue!

This morning, I added a bit of cinnamon to the finished product… I like it a lot like that. Tasty! Rich and robust and I can already feel it starting to work it’s magic. Yay!

Yerba Mate tends to do a better job at waking me up than black tea, and that is what I needed this morning, so I grabbed this.

I really like this. It is bold and robust, takes honey and milk well. Warm and comforting.

I am in serious need of WAKING UP this morning (yeah, I know it’s 12:30 PM but I didn’t sleep really well last night so after getting my daughter off to school this morning, I headed back to bed for a nap which seemed to make things worse instead of better)… I’m sooooo groggy!

So I am hoping this will do the trick.

We have a bunch of errands to run this morning, but I actually took a few moments to brew a cup of this to take with me in my travel mug. This doesn’t happen often.

Yummy… rich… this should (hopefully) wake me up and get me going!!!

This is a really delicious Mate blend. It does brew up very dark … and it has a very pleasant roasted taste to it that is quite like coffee, but I think it’s a little better. The carob in this blend gives a certain, deep, rich, savory chocolate-y-ness to it that I really love.

I have had this for a little while but just got around to trying it today. Yerba Mate always causes a sense of apprehension for me… and I don’t know why. I think it’s because the very first Yerba Mate I tasted was just not very good… it may have been my own fault because I didn’t brew it right, I don’t know.

But that is certainly not Mate Factor’s fault because the Yerba Mate that I tried was from one of my vendors.

Anyways… I hesitated trying this one because of that apprehension… and it was all for naught because this is REALLY good.

A very rich, deep flavor. Earthy but not as earthy as I thought it would be (this is the primary cause behind my apprehension… I’m not always too fond of the earthy quality of Yerba Mate. Fortunately here the earthy quality is not as dominate as I feared it would be) It tastes a bit like freshly ground coffee. It has that deep richness that I associate with coffee.

There is also a savory chocolate note that is absolutely delicious.

I really am digging this!

I love the colors in this box/logo/packaging! Beautiful!

As for the yerba mate itself…

It’s alright :)

I think there is a bit more minty-flavor than carob and that is ok with me. There is a hint of bitterness to it…but it’s matched with an earthy-type flavor. Not woodsy or floral or grassy but EARTH. The mint really helps even the EARTHINESS out. The more I drink this the more I like it. It does ‘brew’ dark, very dark. The carob flavor seems to come out more as it cools! This is pretty good.

This mate blend is so yummy. The carob is rich and chocolate-y, but not too sweet. The mate has an earthy quality to it, but it isn’t too much. The mint provides a pleasing, crisp note that shines through, but doesn’t overwhelm. It’s a very nice balance of flavors. YUM!

OK… as most of you probably already know, I am a tea artist… or I used to be. That is, it was my occupation (self-employed) to flavor teas. I don’t do this on a regular basis anymore, so that is why I say “used to be”…

Anyways… amongst my collection of successful flavors was a flavored yerba mate. It was one that I created to taste a lot like my favorite mocha – because, well, I can’t drink mocha coffee drinks anymore. They’re just too harsh on my stomach. The flavor was a chocolate almond toffee blend… or what I called almond mocha mate… basically, it was a mocha version of Almond Roca – one of my favorite candies.

And it was yummy.

All of this really has very little to do with the mate drink I’m consuming at the moment, except that they have this in common – over the top yummy-nummy-ness. Well… that and a rich chocolate-y flavor.

The green yerba mate is earthy and deep in flavor. The roasted carob gives this a chocolate flavor, but not so much a sweet, chocolate-bar kind of flavor, but more of a rich savory cocoa (or mocha) kind of flavor. The mint is balanced well with the other ingredients and does not overwhelm the flavors… I am getting a nice mint-chocolate-y flavor that is absolutely delightful.

I’m loving this!

Backlogging: I had a cup of this to start my day, because I couldn’t shake the sleepyzzzz – This perked me right up and energized me!

I really like this chai. It is one of the more delightful chai teas that I’ve encountered (that I’ve not blended myself) which is made all the more surprising because it is a Mate blend.

My next cup of this will be my last – I will miss it!

I have a meeting this morning, and since I feel like I could use another five hours of sleep (minimum), I really need to be shaken awake – Yerba Mate style, so I decided to grab this.

Delicious, warm and spicy! Perfect for this morning. Thank you Yerba Mate!

I felt like I needed the energy boost that I get from Yerba Mate today – so I reached for some Chai from Mate Factor.

I really like this Chai – the Mate makes for a deliciously different chai. I went latte today, and it’s rich, smooth, creamy, spiced just right – DELICIOUS!

YUM! This is a very flavorful chai!

The masala spices has a nice balance to them, so it is difficult to discern one flavor from another, they all seem to work in harmony to create a seamless spice flavor. It is spicy and sweet and very tasty!

WOW!!!! I’m the first to log? Well, I won’t be as I have LOTS of this and am going to share!!!! :)

Dark Roast is RIGHT! Holy Yerba Mate! This is DARK!!!!

Kind of smells like Coffee Beans a little. It’s smoother than I expected and resembles a coffee-like taste, I suppose. This isn’t too bad!

I´m from Uruguay and yerba mate is like drinking water here. When you prepare it as a cup of tea it´s called mate cocido. It also can be drunk in a mate which is a recipient made out of wood or glass in which you put the yerba and little water.
I really like it but it can be a bit bitter when you first try it.

Really nice fresh, green flavor. Very green tea-like. And supposedly they use a smoke free drying process so you wont be getting any unhealthy carcinogens polluting your mate and affecting the taste.