For those mornings when I need a bit more of a boost I pull out one of the mate’s that I have in my cupboard. This one in particular is aptly named…
Dry this tea smells of dark chocolate covered raspberries. The roasted mate and chicory notes help to boost the aroma into a complex and tantalizing dance that just draws you in.
Steeped the liquor comes out a medium brown with a few particulates that will eventually settle to the bottom of your cup/pot. I find that I lose a fair bit of the raspberry scent when brewed but the almonds and chicory really start to shine through. The chocolate scent becomes much more subtle as well.
It’s funny thinking back on it, the first thing that went through my mind when I tasted this tea was “huh.” All the flavors were there, the raspberries (a bit fake in flavor but not bad), the chocolate, chicory, mate… even the almonds. But I personally found the combination a bit odd. I wasn’t sure I liked it at first to be honest, it was complex but not in a smooth way; it literally felt like the flavors were battling it out in my mouth, each one fighting to supersede the other. The more I drank though the more I started to appreciate the “rocket” going off in my mouth, and not only did the caffeine in the mate wake me up but the flavor battle did as well.
In the end it’s a decent tea to have on-hand when you’re looking for a “different” tea to wake up with. Not sure I’ll restock it myself though.
