Chai Mate

I first made this tea last week when I had a very early morning meeting to take on a car trip; I made a big thermos of it the night before, two parts tea and one part milk, put it in the fridge to ice over night, and was surprised that my thermos was so powerful it kept the tea from fully chilling over night, so it still had a slight, lukewarm edge to it! It wasn’t bad, but hardly the best iced tea I’ve ever made, and now I know I’ll have to make my “roadtrip” tea in a mason jar and move it over to the thermos the next morning, even if it is a little more inconvenient.

This morning I made a proper warm cuppa. I was too much a zombie on the day of my twilight hour car trip to try to really appreciate the tea beyond, “yerba mate… give me CAFFEINE!” I enjoy roasted mate for having such a smooth, roasted base, free of the astringency of black teas, so I actually really like this as the base of a chai. The most recent chais I’ve tried have been very unbalanced, but this chai is very well-rounded; I don’t find any particular spice overpowering, they all blend well together, and the spices don’t leave a lingering or unpleasant heat in my mouth (and I’m a very spice-sensitive person!) so the tea goes down very smooth. This is the sort of chai I can drink plain, without having to add a ton of milk and sugar, because the spices are blended so well. However, it still takes milk and sugar well if preferred that way, as I drank it iced and latte-style the other morning and found it enjoyable that way (despite being lukewarm) as well.

A solid chai if looking for a mate alternative!

2tsp for 250mL water @90C, steeped 9 minutes. The packet recommends 2tsp for 1 cup of water, which seems like a lot to me, but with tisanes, things can get tricky. So I’ll follow the instructions. Packet also recommends a steep time of six to eight minutes. I got distracted and left it for 9.

Dry leaf: gorgeous dark roasted mate. I was delighted to see that, because the packet lists only “mate” as an ingredient. I was worried that green mate, so fresh and vibrant, couldn’t stand up to chai spices. Roasted can, I have no doubt. I love roasted mate, and it can be hard to find. Strong scent of ginger and cloves, which I love. Clove is an ingredient I don’t often encounter in chai blends. Stash uses it, and Stash was the first chai blend I ever tried, so now for me cloves need to be there. And ginger. I adore cloves and ginger. Cinnamon I can take or leave in a chai blend. This probably tells you I am an unsophisticated brute who knows nothing of chai.

Wet leaf: glossy dark roasted mate, but of clove and ginger showing.

Liquor: quite dark, though not as dark as a pu-ehr. Dark golden brown, as a Nigiri might give. Translucent: light passes through without interruption from down or fragments. Fragrant still with clove and ginger — and a bit of cardamom, which I also adore but can only take in small doses. Too much cardamom gives tisanes, teas and coffee a soapy mouthfeel. I also find too much cardamom hard on the stomach. Given how long I’ve steeped this, I’m a bit nervous.

Just on the edge of soap with the cardamom, and I blame myself. A shorter steep would solve that.

A very balanced blend. The roasted mate is all toasty and a bit earthy, a subtle touch of bitterness — which really works here. I don’t think it needs any sweetening, because the ginger and cinnamon sweeten things nicely at the end. The cloves add depth, and the pepper leaves a lingering bite that builds with each sip.

The mate lift kicks in fast, as it should. Not a smack to the head, but a definite boost. Very pleasant.

I really like it. Citizen Tea seem to have a good handle on blends. Watch the water temp and steep times on this beauty, and enjoy.