Marley Beverage Company
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Check out my reviews for the other two flavours of Marley’s yerba mate RTD beverages if you want to know what specifically about the yerba mate base used in this drinks I find so unpleasant/low quality – but suffice to say that like the two flavours I tried prior I found this rather awful tasting. Probably somewhere in the middle for me; not as bad as the mango flavour for sure though. It did have a note of lemon to it, but was rather acrid…
Glad I tried this, because I would have been curious otherwise, but never having them again…
The second of the Marley “yerba mate” drinks that I tried, of three.
This was the worst one for me – it has the same AWFUL, very low quality tasting smokey, herbal/earthy/mineral and metallic taste that the first one had but with zero detectable added flavouring. Like, the product description actually pisses me off a little bit:
Slightly tangy and sweet, fragrant and tropical…
It is NONE of those things, and this one I couldn’t even finish…
Noticed that my grocery store was now stocking three different flavours of Yerba Mate drink from the Marley Beverage Company and so I picked up a can of each one to give them a try. I’ve had different drinks from this company before to mixed success – I think the most memorable was the pear flavoured “Mellow Mood” drink. It’s interesting to me that this company has a line up of “relaxation tea beverages” and now has a line up of ones for energy and stimulation as well…
I’ve tried a bunch of RTD yerba mate drinks before – they’re usually not good. I’m sad to say, that these three were NOT the exceptions to that rule. I’ll do a tasting note for each one, but damn – so unpleasant.
This was actually my favourite of the three, which is quite sad because it was the first one that I tried and when I was trying it I was just kind of disgusted the entire time. The overarching flavour is this mix of smokiness, mineral heavy earthy notes, and a sort of metallic finish – with the FAINTEST bit of berry. Now, I will say that most of those notes are actually flavour notes of yerba mate, so this definitely does taste like the tea and isn’t all flavouring/fruit juice (which is a win – in a way), but they’re REALLY unpleasant versions of the tasting notes naturally found in yerba mate. So, it’s like having an iced tea made from a very unpleasant and low quality yerba mate. I really think they should have either upped the berry flavouring to cover the unpleasant yerba mate OR added more sweetener – maybe both!? It’s just such bad yerba mate…
Would not buy this one again. Would not drink it again if offered…
We started our seasonal interviews at work today; it was my day off but I came in for an hour anyway to help out with conducting interviews. I stopped at Freshi afterwards and grabbed an Oaxaca bowl to take home with my for supper, and then at 7-11 on the bus ride home, where I just grabbed a can of this.
I can’t remember if this is one of the flavours I’ve tried or not – I swear I’ve had something from this company that was raspberry flavoured but I don’t think it was a lemonade. Who can say, though…
I’m just still feeling really tired/out of it and I don’t know that I have the energy/will power to actually brew tea tonight. I’m definitely still in ‘curled up on the couch/eating pints of icecream mode’ post break up. It’ll take a little while the bounce back completely. I still want tea though; so canned/ready to drink stuff will have to do.
It’s good enough – I can totally taste the actual tea in here which is important to me, even in a canned/ready to drink sort of tea. Unfortunately, it’s giving me some major Lipton/Tetley vibes in terms of quality. The raspberry is also strong, but very, very sweet which is kind of gross. I mean, one of the top ingredients in here is cane sugar though, so I probably shouldn’t be that surprised. There’s also stevia as well, so that’s a whole lot of sweetener in one little can.
Totally not something I’d normally gravitate towards – but like I said, I’m unwilling to actually brew up tea right now so I can’t really afford to be all that picky.
Happy belated May The 4th Steepster!
I know it’s been a few days. but I wanted to talk about May The 4th Be With You/National Star Wars day because… I got a tattoo!
I’ve wanted to get a Star Wars tattoo for a while now, and I really wanted to get it done on the holiday for years now but the last two years I worked on the 4th so it wasn’t doable – this year I had it off though, so my friend Kandyce, her fiance and I all went and got our star wars tattoos done! Not matching, though.
Mine is the BB-8 one in the middle, and hers is the Princess Leia one. Seth’s isn’t pictured there, though. As you can see, the artist had a Japanese theme intertwined with this year’s pieces. CJ (The Artist) is amazing, and I absolutely LOVE the design. My BB-8 is inspired by the Japanese gourd myths, and depending on the myth that can symbolize either luck, happiness, or health and security. I’m pretty down with all of those things. Plus, I like that BB-8 is a little more representative of the Star Wars that my generation is going to be exposed to; the ‘newest wave’ of Star Wars! My generations R2D2…
So where’s the tea tie in? Well, gotta keep hydrated while getting a tattoo done, and have food in your belly. So, I brought this with to get it down as well as some granola bars. The tea itself was kind of ‘meh’. Generic raspberry without much actual tea taste. That’s not really what this tasting note’s about though, is it?
Nah. If we’re being honest this tasting note is just me showing off my new tattoo.
So, I’ve only ever seen this company/iced tea sold at ONE Seven Eleven in my city and it was purely by chance that I found it. However, it was really REALLY fucking good. The pear flavour was very clear and natural tasting, and it paired very nicely with the black tea base. The whole drink came off as very authentic tasting, and something I would happily drink again or even regularly stock for my super lazy days when I don’t want to pack a proper lunch for work.
Only downside? It’s really not all that readily available to me…
Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Pear, Sweet
So what is it about Marley’s that will put you in such a mellow mood? Mostly it’s the combination of chamomile and valerian root, two herbal ingredients that are commonly used as a relaxant. You’ll see them frequently included in bedtime tea blends as they both promote drowsiness, which is why this tea also comes with a warning label. It’s not considered safe for children or woman who are nursing or pregnant and probably shouldn’t be consumed if you’re driving or operating heavy machinery. If you’re taking any medication you’ll want to talk with your doctor before trying this tea as some of the ingredients may interfere with prescription medications.
I can tell you from personal experience the combination of valerian root and my seizure medication won’t just mellow me out, it will knock me flat on my behind for hours at a time. This makes it the perfect tea to drink when I’m suffering from travel related insomnia. I’m sure I’m not the only one who can’t get comfortable in a hotel bed, so those of you who have trouble sleeping on the road may want to give this tea a try. Just keep in mind that the flavor is much like any other bottled green tea on the market, it tastes more like sweetener than tea. In this case the liberal use of honey tends to mask the odd, unappealing flavor of the valerian root, so I actually consider this to be a good thing.
You can read the full review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2016/5/31/tuesday-tea-green-tea-with-honey-marleys-mellow-mood
Preparation
I’ve had food poisoning for the last day or so (again. Of course, again. Jeebus), so I haven’t had the energy to deal with the teas I have coldbrewing in my fridge. But when we were on our way to Mississauga to put in an appearance at a family member’s birthday party, we stopped off at a 7-11 and I picked up two of these. I LOVE THESE and every time I see them, I pick up a few. So good. It doesn’t have that sour, artificial tea flavor and I’m telling you, I had one before bed last night and I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I wonder if I could replicate it at home…
It seems like you’ve been having a lot of food/gastro issues lately. I hope you get better.
Gastro issues are my life, unfortunately. For instance, I have lactose issues, but earlier this week while eating tofu, I discovered that soy does my body no favors either. Meh, life goes on and so do I :)
Always a good one to grab whenever you are at Wegmans (or any other food store). They recently took Melatonin out of the ingredients but I am not complaining. Because of the various extracts if you drink the suggested serving size, it will calm and mellow you. If you drink the whole bottle it will knock you out. Great tea, sweet but no weird aftertaste. Recommended.
Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a bottle of this tea.
It’s tasty. The first couple of sips were slightly off-putting because I could taste the stevia, but, after those initial sips, the rest of the flavors emerged and sort of washed over that funky stevia taste, so I didn’t taste it any more.
This is half lemonade-half tea, so the tea is having to share center stage with the lemonade, and it is therefore a lighter taste. But overall, I’m enjoying this, and the mellow mood part works, because, I am really feeling drowsy now … and I wasn’t before I opened the bottle. This stuff works better than a cup of chamomile tea. I’d like to keep it on hand for the relaxation properties, because I often have trouble falling asleep. I don’t think that will be an issue tonight.
Good night, Steepster!
Seriously, best bottled tea I have ever had.
A bit sweet but I like that, def mellowed me out, which I need.
Plus, like the others, I am a HUMONGOID (not a word) Bob Marley fan.
I am now going to go see if I can buy these by the case without going broke. Wish me luck!
Edit: No, I cannot. But if I start my business maybe I can get a wholesale price and sell them myself. And drink them myself. We shall see!
