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“Backlog: This is probably one of my favorite Yerba Mate blends ever. I love the maple, I love the almond, I love the maple, I love the marshmallow notes, I love the maple, I like that the...” Read full tasting note
“I haven’t had much mate yet. It has a strong licorice flavour. The herbal/ mint flavour is nice though. Perhaps a good tea for the mornings I have class.” Read full tasting note
“I have to confess to not being a fan of Mate teas, but this tea does make me reevaluate this stance. The dried leaf smells exactly like black licorice with the remaining flavors coming through in...” Read full tasting note
“This licorice mate is delightfully not a single-note anise tea. It smells and tastes like black licorice candy which matches the smoky quality of roasted mate. In fact, the dark flavour is akin to...” Read full tasting note
I love creating new tea blends for our customers; if I didn’t, I would just go make a LOT more money being an accountant (and most likely lose my soul in the process). I love that every week I get another chance to create something new, and potentially earn the love and admiration of our followers for something I created. I imagine that’s kind of what it’s like for a writer. [Brief indulgent aside: Once upon a time, yours truly wanted to be a writer. I wrote terrible science fiction stories and collected enough rejection slips to wallpaper the White House.] So it should come as no surprise that when author Joe Hill became an enthusiastic customer of ours, I kind of lost my poop (pardon my censorship). When he asked me to create a blend inspired by his most recent novel and actually sent me an advanced autographed copy of said novel… well, my friends and family can attest, I couldn’t shut up about it for weeks.
So, NOS4A2 (think Nosferatu’s creepy vanity plate) is about an soul-sucking supercentenarian with an evil car who “saves” children and takes them to place called Christmasland where every day is Christmas and soulless children play games like scissors for the drifter.
One of the key ideas expressed in NOS4A2 is the concept of inscapes. Christmasland is the evil Charlie Manx’s inscape. It’s a world of his imagination made real by the sheer force of his (evil) will. Fortunately, there are other, more noble characters in NOS4A2 who have also harnessed the power of inscapes, which power they ultimately wield to wage battle with the dark antagonist Charlie Manx.
NOS4A2 is a great ride of a book. It’s thoroughly entertaining and difficult to put down in its immersive 704 pages. You should head to your nearest locally owned bookstore and get a copy today. It’s also available on Amazon.
But I suppose you want to know about the tea this week. Inscape is my attempt at an artistic interpretation of Joe Hill’s novel. It is dark and mysterious with a roasted South American yerba mate base blended with almond slivers, marshmallow root, licorice root and a touch of peppermint. It is largely flavored with organic marshmallow and maple flavors and the cup tastes mostly like a rich vanilla/maple mate with a whisper of licorice and peppermint–like the ghost of Christmas, unexpected and strangely haunting. This is MY inscape, my re-imagining of Joe Hill’s novel manifested in reality and poured out for you. I hope you like it.
At 52teas.com, you will find unique, hand-blended artisan loose leaf teas: a new limited edition creation every week of the year. We pride ourselves on offering truly unique, one-of-a-kind tea blends that you won’t find anywhere else.
Backlog:
This is probably one of my favorite Yerba Mate blends ever. I love the maple, I love the almond, I love the maple, I love the marshmallow notes, I love the maple, I like that the peppermint is subtle and doesn’t overpower the cup. Did I mention the maple yet?
I’m a subscriber to 52Teas, and I liked this tisane so much that I even ordered an extra pouch of it.
I have to confess to not being a fan of Mate teas, but this tea does make me reevaluate this stance. The dried leaf smells exactly like black licorice with the remaining flavors coming through in the background. Once brewed the nutty almond flavor melds with the mate base with the blend taking on more of a creamy minty flavoring. The licorice is still noticeable in the brew but is not as dominating of a flavor as one would suspect based on the dried leaf. Overall, I was pleasantly surprise by all the depth of flavors and actually liking a mate tea … for a change.
This licorice mate is delightfully not a single-note anise tea. It smells and tastes like black licorice candy which matches the smoky quality of roasted mate. In fact, the dark flavour is akin to drip coffee especially sipped scalding hot. With no added sugar which is my preference, this tea is dessert-like. I don’t really notice mint but there is a cooling effect that could be menthol. The strength of flavour carries through the second cup which is good because mate, in of itself, survives multiple steeps.
Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – September Tea #7 -A yerba mate
The only yerba mate I brought on the trip, so it will have to do for the prompt today! I like this one because it at least has marshmallow root. It’s an odd blend based on an odd book. Nothing new to report!
It’s definitely a yerba mate week. I’m at work, it’s nearly 11.00 in the morning, and I’m not even convinced I’m awake yet. What happened to the weekend? Anyway, this blend is one of very few yerba mate teas I have in my cupboard at the moment, so it was chosen pretty much my default this morning. It helps that it’s one of my older 52 Teas, and I really should be getting to it anyway. This one is described as “mostly like a rich vanilla/maple mate with a whisper of licorice and peppermint–like the ghost of Christmas, unexpected and strangely haunting.” Intriguing, no? I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it approximately 3 minutes in boiling water. It smells delicious – the whole kitchen filled with sweet marshmallow root and mint.
I have to admit, I wasn’t sure about the flavour after my first sip. It seemed pretty smoky, although successive sips have made me think that’s maybe just the yerba. It’s earthy, really, and no so much smoky after all. The main flavour, to me, is marshmallow root, closely followed by peppermint. I’m actually reminded a little of Graveyard Mist, which I’ve also got open at the moment. It’s just not as sweet. I can taste a touch of maple, and there’s just a hint of black liquorice in the aftertaste. It’s quite a layered, complex tea – the initially sweet flavours give way to something darker, and the earthiness of the yerba gives it a stormy, brooding sort of quality. Pretty fitting, given the inspiration.
I’m enjoying my cup, and I think it’s definitely helping to sharpen me up a little. I feel a tiny bit brighter and more awake now than I did. This might just be my morning go-to for the next couple of weeks!
