Both dry and brewed the smells of the coconut, malt, and barely are at the forefront. Not sure how much chocolate flavor I’m getting from the scent at least. This kind of combine and remind of a licorice type scent, but that could just be my weird nose.
I went for a lower water temp than was suggested, mostly because that’s how I’ve done mate before, I also steeped it for a bit less. Taste wise, it’s interesting. Not sure how much mate I’m picking up, seems to be more spice type flavors. It’s sweet, but I’m having such trouble putting a descriptive phrase to the flavor because it reminds me of something, but it’s right there and I can’t figure out what it is. There is a light cocoa note, but I wouldn’t have named this Chocolate Mate, it doesn’t quite have enough chocolate in it for that. Just looked up that it had rooibos in it, didn’t realize. I think that’s the more dominant flavor, the sweet kind of woody caramel note.
Tea: 1 tsp
Water: 8 oz
Additives: none
Brewing method: My lovely forest teapot