Mate Factor

Absolutely delicious! I can certainly see why people use this as a coffee substitute, although this still tastes markedly different. Particularly with a little sugar and milk it has a similar warmth and fullness to matcha. I haven’t been able to find any information on its exact caffeine content, so that is a point I’d be curious about. Definitely recommend!

So I’m sure none of you have miscellaneous unidentified baggies and plastic containers littering your desk drawers at work; y’all label everything precisely by name, date, and can identify them by scent, correct?

I am not that disciplined; therefore, when I found this little stash of bags in my office yesterday, I decided to be adventurous and just dunk it.

Took me a while to figure out I was tasting. First random thought that came to mind was “Hickory Chicory Chai” just because it was fun to say—turns out there are actually some teas by that name.

After half a cup, I decided to quit guessing and flipped through my tealog. Now I remember. This does not taste like Hershey bar and mint; the carob base is more reminiscent of coffee (that’s what set off the “chicory” whistle). At any rate, it isn’t bad and definitely did what I sent it out to do—get the eyes open so I’d be awake enough to go home on time :)

You never know what you’ll find on the pay-it-forward table (AKA Please Take This Junk Off My Hands) in the break room at work. In this case, it was a box of this surprisingly tasty stuff. I split it with a friend, so she got the box and I didn’t think to jot down ingredients.

What I can tell you about this blend is that it has a nice cocoa-mint personality without being cloyingly sweet. I had mine straight up with no additives. The friend who shared with me was planning to take hers home and sweeten with milk—that’d work, too. Enough punch in the mate’ to keep me functional on a must-concentrate-until-your-brain-bleeds afternoon.

I went to Down to Earth to look for a roasted yerba mate, and I found this. Used a generous tablespoon to go with about 10-12 oz of water (I think I’m still dusting mate sediment off of my work table). What I like about this is that it steeped for a good long while, but it never gave me that BLEH flavor that overbrewed black coffee has. The color is rich and dark. Goes well with Stevia, but I’m going to try a little less mate next time to see if I can ferret out the actual taste of the herb…

Was looking forward to trying this, in my quest for upping the “maté factor” in my tea rotation. It’s good, tastes pretty much like you’d expect from the ingredients: maté with carob/chicory/roasted barley… It tastes, in other words, like one of those coffee substitutes with a nice addition of maté. I appreciate the ethics of the company and it’s always great to try a new maté blend rendition, but I much prefer the flavor of Guayakí’s vanilla or mocha maté’s. Those also have maca and ramón nut, so more functional benefits IMO.

Before Sugar: Very Green tasting, almost like a green tea but not quite.

After Sugar: Darker flavor, more of a Mate flavor now then green tea, slight hint of grassy flavor

Sometimes I lead with the negatives. Maybe that’s a fault, but instead I’d like to think it prepares the taster for the experience, letting them look past the bad to the delightful. In that spirit, the bags smell like stale herbs and there’s no individual wrapping. As someone that likes to sniff teabags as well as someone who appreciates freshness in something portable like an individual tea bag, it’s hard for me to look past those petty things.

The brewed mate itself is tasty, especially with a little sweetener. The carob is subtle and the yerba mate provides littles more than body, so one is left mostly with peppermint, but if you enjoy peppermint tea, I could easily see this becoming a daily staple. If you’re more interested in the mocha, I’d look elsewhere.

This is a good mate, with a very fresh, clean taste similar to most brazilian types of yerba mate – but the cycle (in the gourd) didn’t last for more than 1.5 liters. The flavor weakened very quickly, compared to a majority of mates I’ve had before. Still a good mate for beginners, though.

Another tea from a vacation. They only had 12 oz. packages or tea bags. I choose the 12 oz. package. YIKES! That’s a lot of tea! Luckily, I like the tea! It’s very green and fresh! There’s no overly vegetal smell or taste. I’ve tried it with several different flavorings and sweeteners and have enjoyed them all. (Vanilla cream Stevia, Chocolate Stevia, Maple syrup, Strawberry Chocolate Stevia) I really enjoy mates and their caffeine which makes this a tea I’ll keep in my cupboard for a long time. Re-steeps well.

This is a very green-tasting tea, so I guess it’s well named. :) I’m working through my Mate Factor Variety Pack, and this is just the plain green mate with no other stuff. I like it! I just put a bag in a normal 8oz mug, added boiling water, steeped for 5min but left the bag in while drinking it. Very low-tech, lol. I’ve done two steepings, and the second is still pretty flavourful.

The primary flavour I get from this is the peppermint, with an underlying fresh/green flavour that I assume is the yerba mate. The carob is there, but quite mild. I like this tea plain, but I like it even more with a bit of sugar. I tried adding a bit of milk as well, but I’m not really a fan of that.

Originally published at The Nice Drinks In Life: http://thenicedrinksinlife.blogspot.com/2012/09/organic-dark-roast-yerba-mate.html

Origins: Brazil
Type: Yerba Mate
Ingredients: Yerba Mate, Roasted Yerba Mate, Roasted Barley, Roasted Carob, Roasted Chicory
Purveyor: Mate Factor (all organic)
Preparation: One tablespoon put into an empty 10oz mug, rest of mug filled with approximately 150-degree water, sipped with bombilla

Now here is a keen angle. Mate Factor is branding its mate not as a tea, but as its own category of caffeinated coffee alternative. It really is a great job that they did. The package includes brewing instructions for a French press, a standard drip machine, even an espresso machine with a latte option. Very nice.

As for whether the product can actually work as an alternative to coffee, that depends. Someone looking for something that tastes like coffee will be disappointed; no tea or tisane will ever achieve that. But Mate Factor never sought to make something that tastes like coffee in the first place. They assembled a unique blend of ingredients, and what results is a rich, earthy brew with a flavor all its own.

The dry Dark Roast Yerba Mate, first of all, looks great. It is like looking at a fresh, prime, radiant example of pristine woodland earth in the springtime. Most of the mix is a bold, dark brown, and sprinkled about there are bright, deciduous greens and whites. The leaves smell sweet and chocolaty.

When brewed, the tisane switches gears and emits a strong scent of yerba mate. The other ingredients become quite peripheral to the aroma. The liquid is a dark brown, malty but translucent, rather like a black tea. There is nothing malty about the flavor though. The brew offers very smooth, even notes of yerba mate and chocolate. It is sweet but not so sweet that it starts to do a bad impression of chocolate milk. The barley gives it an extra dimension, a little depth and subtlety. But the principle flavor is definitely the yerba mate. This is good, because it lends credibility to the suggestion that it is meant to be brewed. Without the mate’s presence, one would wonder if it would not be better just as a shake or something.

Fortunately, the yerba mate does indeed predominate, and it tastes quite ideal as a brewed beverage. I can definitely see making a latte or cappuccino out of this; the flavor and texture would integrate with the milk perfectly. Of course, I enjoyed it just fine prepared in the traditional way. All in all, Mate Factor did a splendid job creating, as they put it, a “healthy coffee alternative.”

This is a pick me up tea as I lost an hour of sleep last night due to that stupid thing called “Daylight Savings Time.” I was horribly frustrated as I forgot to set my clock in my room an hour ahead and so I woke up thinking it was 9:30 and I would have the house to myself when it was actually 10:30 and my parents would be coming home soon from church.

Regardless, I am quite tired and I had a mate latte at a coffee shop in Burlington the other day and it was quite lovely, so I recreated it. I brewed up the mate at 195 for 5 minuets, added some maple syrup for sweetness, and topped it with some frothed soy milk. The result is an easy to make and delicious (and healthy AND a great pick me up, the perfect package :D) latte. It’s really good and I think this will be my pick me up drink of choice from now on!

I’ve come to the unfortunate realization that all of the teas on my list from yesterday won’t be able to be reviewed because I had to go to a dinner thingy last night and I stayed for much longer than expected, and I have homework to do today :( AND I have orchestra rehearsal. Meh. Regardless, I’ll try to get some of them done.

WAY too much hibiscus. Overwhelming.
I can’t even finish the cup.

Today’s brain boost brought to you by Mate Factor. Delivered via a chia orange yerba late. With a pinch of matcha for extra green go. I think there’s just too much going into this blend without better balence. It’s not bad alone and with juice or milk it approches good.

If you’ll excuse me, I need to climb a few sequoias.

Since her reactions to coffee and creamer are worsening, my mother has finally relented in trying alternatives. I figured the caffeine rich yerba would be a good start. I can’t rate this quite yet as I don’t think I steeped it right. I used four table spoons in a two cup French press and forgot about it for twenty minutes. It came out with far too strong an aftertaste. I timed the second cup better and was surprised. Despite the dark color and list of toasty ingredients this tastes mostly like green yerba and a cacophony of extras. I’m going to give this blend a few more tries before I give up.

And the maternal unit’s reaction? “It’s okay. Too green. It needs creamer, though.”
Oh well. One problem at a time.

This is always bitter, no matter how cool the water. I need to just save the last two bags (yay!) to use as a chicken marinade, poaching liquid, or base for a nourishing chicken soup. That’s the only way I like this one.