Vanilla Mint Mate

Crisis. I am in a crisis. The problem? My large fish tank has a leak that is only small but large enough to be a major issue for the here and now. It’s 12:30am…no shops are open for help. I’ve had to take out all of my fish and put them into a small tank with water colder than they and I would prefer.

Probable outcome – Some fish are going to die.

The tank that is leaking has many snails and shrimps, they are simply too small to catch and it will be impossible to find them all once the water is drained as they bury and hide.

Probable outcome – Some snails and shrimps will die.

My aquarium is heavily planted with various kinds of plants. Most started out as a small bulb or patch but has spread. There is no room in my other tanks for any more plants.

Probable outcome – My plants will die.

Repair kits take a week to become safe before water can be introduced so I wont know if my tank can be repaired yet. I wouldn’t mind spending another £300 on one but the thought of losing my pets is painful.

Only thing I can do – Make a pot of tea and sit down. Try to relax and take things in their stride. I keep getting a lot of bad luck coming my way recently and it’s hard to take it all.

I chose this tea to help with my stress stomach ache and the mate should keep me awake for the next hour or two so I can continue to drain the tank and try my very best to save my aquarium friends, or as many of them as I can.

Backlogging tea of the afternoon…. (SRP #37)

This one is from my Foodzie Box from LiberTEAS.

I requested this sample, because it sounds like a great blend for yerba mate. The yerba mate is roasted, so it comes across as an herbally light coffee taste. Then add just the light kiss of mint plus vanilla, and you have a really good flavor profile. What I love about this is the level of mint. It is actually just an addition to the flavoring….spearmint with restraint….rather than an overpowering force. It is wonderful with just a slight amount of sweetness added.

Mug method with a 5 minute steep.

Thanks to Ian for sending me some of this, the last of my mate samples to review.

I did steep this in my regular infuser mug method, it was at least 7 minutes but I lost track of time. After looking at the picture here on Steepster (which looks like a milkshake), I decided to add soymilk to mine which I think ended up being a good decision. It is lightly minty with a touch of vanilla which makes a good balance with the mate. I am not tempted to run out and order more of this but it’s definitely good. Thanks again, Ian!

Another strong, solid tea from 52teas. As this is brewing, the mint flavor just kind of floats through the house. That’s probably one of my favorite aspects of mint teas that I don’t get from other teas… nothing quite smells as good roaming through your house as freshly steeped mint. Except prime rib. But that wouldn’t make a good tea. Moving on!

The vanilla and mint are very nice on the tongue, definitely reminiscent of Creme de Menthe. The toasted flavor of the mate starts coming out shortly and really rounds out the flavor. It has an almost chocolate like quality to it, I’m not sure what the association is coming from., but it is quite enjoyable. Hrmmm. Kind of makes me want a mint/vanilla genmaicha. I bet that would be killer.

I’m eyeing Frank’s stock of this and wondering how much will still be around for my next payday…

This tea makes a great base for homemade hot chocolate! It creates a rich, multidimensional taste that is a nice change of pace from ordinary hot chocolate.

Alright, this would be sample 2/8 in my plan to drink one tea per swap. (The Neapolitan Honeybush doesn’t count; I drank it and wrote the note last night, but forgot to hit ‘post’. Whoopsie.)

Thank you Missy & Dylan for the small sample of this one that I asked for! Although I’m almost regretting asking for one-cup samples of things sometimes, it is nice on occasion to eliminate a tea from the stash after one cup!!

Based on my surprising enjoyment of 52teas minty blends, I’m expecting to like this one, especially since it contains roasted mate. However, the steeped aroma is not terribly appealing. I smell mintiness, which is iffy, and perhaps some vanilla, but not the mate, and not the yummy “52teas flavouring”, as I will call it. (Uh, it just occurred to me that this “flavouring” of which I speak may actually be part of the flavourings used to produce a chocolate flavour… because the blends I can recall it being in, like Chocolate Mint, Mint Chocolate Chip Honeybush, Malted ChocoMate, Cherry Garcia, all have chocolate in them…. this is making me very sad that I didn’t get any Double Chocolate Decadence :( )

A sip of this blend confirms my recently developed suspicion – that flavour is not here, and consequently I do not care for this tea! The icky peppermint nastiness is a bit too apparent for me here, and because of that, I can’t enjoy the vanilla. I also can’t really taste the roasted mate (oh, maybe it’s there, but well-hidden. A little coffee-esque.)

This isn’t too terrible though; anyone who enjoys disgusting things like straight peppermint tea would probably adore this, but I loathe straight peppermint tea.

Well, this was worth a shot! Not regretting the one cup’s worth at ALL now!! Thanks for passing this sample along, Missy/Dylan :D

This is an interesting cuppa. I normally don’t care for mate, but I love the combo of vanilla and mint so I took a chance. You can barely taste the mate base, which I love – but people who like mate may not like that fact. The flavors of vanilla and mint are both prominent, so you can taste both individually, yet the blending of both is phenomenal. I’d recommend this one for an AM cuppa: it’s caffeine-charged and the flavor is tasty.

This is really nice. When I first read the “Vanilla Mint” my mind immediately recalled the Shamrock Tea, and I wondered how this would compare. It’s been a while, though, since I’ve had the shamrock tea, so I don’t know that I could do a comparison much justice at this point.

But I am enjoying this. The mint is strong, but the vanilla comes in pretty strong too, creating a nice, crisp, sweet and creamy mint taste. The Mate is there too. It gives the cup an earthy taste that is an interesting contrast to the clean taste of the mint and the sweetness of the vanilla. A very pleasant blend.

Le sigh! Why must they only be made once a week!? What’s worse is it’s one that my daughter actually would like to have around too.

Vanilla and mint are two of my favorite flavors right after chocolate. I think they are easier to get right in tea though. I feel like the vanilla and mints are all mixed together perfectly. Smooth and refreshing with out losing one flavor or another. Roasted mate is splendid! I get a toasted green taste from it. All these flavors mix so well which each other to make another wonderful tea.

I actually really like this one!
I’m not always the biggest fan of mate- I don’t think it tastes like coffee and tend not to appreciate blends that try to convince me that it does. I’ve been confused about the whole “mate latte” trend at coffee/tea houses.

But now I want someone who’s good at making lattes to make me one with this- because it’s just screaming for foamed milk.
My first cup I just had with water, but I’m trying it now with some steamed vanilla soy milk (I think I used too much and made it too weak- oops)
Anyway, vanilla and mint are a great combination, and while mate doesn’t have a stimulating affect on me, it’s pleasant enough in this blend that, well, I don’t mind that it’s there. Keeps this from being an (after dinner) dessert tea though- I don’t want to risk being stimulated right before bedtime.

I think all tea shops should stock this one to make me lattes with. Yumyum.