Roasted Cocoa Yerba Mate

This is an ancient sample that I got from Fleurdelily, who doesn’t seem to be around anymore, back in October. It’s been sitting in my Untried Teas Box since then, because there were several things about it that I found a little intimidating.

I’m not super-keen on mate, to be honest. But I don’t hate it either. Also, I’ve never had roasted mate before, and maybe that appeals to me more.

I’m not super-keen on chocolate flavoured things where the chocolate isn’t a naturally occuring note of cocoa. It’s a texture thing. Or rather a lack of texture thing. But I’m willing to give them a go.

I have also had a blend previously which contained chicory, I think it was, and there was something in it that I didn’t like where people told me it was likely the chicory. I think. Or was I dreaming that? I can’t remember which blend it was or when I drank it.

So that is why it has taken me so long. Quite honestly, I’m rather afraid of this.

But I’ve pulled myself together and made a cup, expertly spilling a good slosh of it into the tray. The table at Tea Corner is wooden and was beginning to show the evidence of a lot of spilling, so I bought a small melanine tray from Roy Kirkham, with butterflies on it matching one of the small pots, to have the pot and cups and such on while brewing. It looks great (I think) and it works.

Well, it certainly smells like cocoa. Sweet and deep and very much like hot chocolate. So far so good. There’s something else underneath as well, which smells rather like coffee, so since chicory has a history of being used as a coffee substitute during the Occupation, I’m going to assume that it’s chicory I can smell.

My father doesn’t like tea at all. He doesn’t like real tea and he doesn’t like herbal tea. He thinks it stinks to high heaven and tastes even worse.

(And don’t come and tell me nonsense like ’it’s just because he’s only had bad tea’ or ’it’s just because he hasn’t tried this or that tea’ or ‘everybody likes tea, just not all types’ because it’s rubbish and it annoys me. We all have things we just. Don’t. Like. For me it’s beer and most sorts of alcohol. Yuckity yuck yuck yuck. For him it’s tea. It greatly annoys me when people seem to take offence at the fact that there are people in the world who strongly dislikes things that others like. Nobody likes everything, and we are allowed to not like some things. So there. Rant over.)

But anyway, I think he might find the aroma of this one tolerable. Yes, frankly, because it smells like coffee, but even so. The funny thing about me father, by the way, is that he’s really into whisky and goes to tastings and what not when he can with Husband and a friend of his. So while he finds my tea disgusting and I find his whisky repulsive, we get each other on this. :)

Right, enough stalling. What does this stuff taste like?

Peculiar. It doesn’t actually have a very strong flavour. At first it was just a sip of hot liquid, and then all the notes show up in the aftertaste. A coffee-y hint, a blooming of cocoa and at the very back of the throat a tiny point of something prickly, as if there was a smidge of chili in it. Well, I’ve heard of chili chocolate…

Now, it is a very old sample by now and apparently I also used water that was too hot, so that may account for the funny backwards nature of the sip. I’m far more used to things having no aftertaste than things having only aftertaste.

I’ve touched on how cocoa flavoured teas and chocolate flavoured teas usually disappoint me because they lack the thick texture of real hot cocoa. This blend, however, has managed to find a way to actually taste strongly of cocoa without bringing with it this lack of texture disappointment, in spite of how the actual texture is still as thin as water. If you get what I mean. I’m highly pleased with this. No other chocolate flavoured tea that I can think of has managed to do this.

As the cup cools a bit, the flavour becomes less shy and actually shows up on the sip as well. The cocoa remains largely on the aftertaste, and I’m catching hints of something wooden (the rooibos, I think) and nuts on the sip. That chicory that I was so afraid of doesn’t appear to be around at all. Or it wasn’t actually chicory that caused aforementioned unpleasant notes previously. See, this would be a lot easier if I could actually remember it. Now I don’t even know why I mentioned it in the first place.

All in all, this is quite a hearty and pleasant blend. What was I so afraid of for all this time? That said, I’m still not super-keen on mate, but I’ve learned that I like it better when it’s roasted.

Additional notes: I’m loving this one again today. It’s interesting that I did notice that barbequey flavor again, that I noted last time. It’s roasty, smokey, chocolately, earthy, coffee-like. So good!

Ok, so this is technically the second time I’m drinking this tea – the first I apparently forgot to log; I drank it on the way out to the cottage last weekend!

Anyhow! I think this is a sample from Awkward Soul, thanks!

So, I’m one of those people who has a tendency to smell/taste banana in roasted mates. From both DT and 52teas, so it shouldn’t be a vendor issue. So, naturally, I was expecting that same flavour here… and it is, slightly, but far, far less. Instead, the overwhelming flavour I’m tasting here is molasses! Not as sweet as molasses, but that almost bitter, dark flavour of cooking molasses. Very interesting. It was a little offputting to me earlier, as all I could taste was the molasses when it was hot, but down that it’s also suffered the same 6-hour cooldown as Prince Vladimir, I can taste the cocoa (and banana) notes beneath the molasses, and it’s far more enjoyable. The tea still smells strongly of molasses though. This might be best for me as a cold drink… perhaps I should brew some up and leave it in the fridge for the morning? Although it just occurred to me that I only have less than a cup’s worth left :( Oh well.

Thanks for the sample, Awkward Soul! I do seem to like these roasted mates!

I was super excited to try this. I love mate teas and this is one of a few swapped from Awkward Soul.
I was seeking comfort from this tea. Tomorrow is my birthday and I’m not pleased about turning another year older. This past year has been the best one yet, but still not keen.
Why do we have to grow up anyway?
Anyway the tea…
First sip hinted that this was not one to be drunk bare. In goes a bit of raw sugar…. Nope, something still isn’t right. Little milk, but more sugar. Nope.
Sadly, this tea tastes like burnt leaves and cocoa powder. Not, awful, but it’s flavours do not jive.

Second tea for me to review from Fusion Teas – Roasted Cocoa mate. For this tea I tried a longer steep at 7 minutes.

DRY: Looking good, chocolate chips, hunks of almonds, marigold flowers. Smells like roasted mate and chocolate.

STEEPED: Brown, cloudy from the melted chocolate I’m guessing. Smells like something roasted and chocolate lol.

TASTE: The roasted mate comes out – with roasted and nutty bits really coming out (probably from the toasted rice/etc). A spike of chocolatey liquor flavor at the end.

WHO’D DIG THIS TEA: Coffee drinkers converting to tea. Mate drinkers. Nuts in tea people.

COMMENTS: Comparing to Fusion Tea’s “Good Morning Mate” this one isn’t as coffee like, but keeps that roasted elements making it a small bridge to coffee drinkers. I’d say it is not as robust and well rounded as “Good Morning Mate” – more simple of a tea with a hit of chocolate. Roasted Chocolate doesn’t have that woodsyness “Good Morning” has – Roasted Chocolate is lighter.
For me, it’s a little too nutty for my tastes. I’d also say theres not enough chocolate but YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MUCH CHOCOLATE (but will probably never get to that level of tea tasting like hot chocolate). I feel its missing something, but maybe it’s my “I love complex crazy tea blends” side saying that.

Interestingly, I think this tea would be perfect for my dad. He likes those simple flavored coffee things and lighter roasts. For tea, he likes earl grey (all thanks to Captain Picard).

I probably won’t get more of this tea and gift to my dad or trades. This tea might also mix well with other tea (heh, mate spike my chocolate black teas for a kick). It’s not bad – Fusion has a great quality mate that’s for sure.

This one smells amazing in the bag, sweet cocoa goodness all the way. I can’t say that follows through to the flavor though. At most I get a slight feel of cocoa more than a real taste of it. I keep taking drinks of this and I still can’t identify what it is I’m tasting – it’s not the roasted mate, and it’s not very chocolatey, but it’s still good? The body reminds me of coffee, it’s like a very smooth roast.

Okay, I’ve just gone and added a dash of chocolate soy milk to this cup, that improved things. I’d recommend this to coffee drinkers if you take it straight, it feels very similar to coffee but doesn’t quite have that bracing coffee flavor that made me turn to tea, haha. Worth a try if you’re trying to kill your Starbucks habit.

Trick or Treat! This sampler is over a year old now, but the leaf still has a nice aroma that reminds me a bit of a Nestle Crunch Bar only with a sharper cocoa aroma rather than milk chocolate, and also some hints of nuttiness. It’s very pleasant. I really like the Roasted Pumpkin Mate blend by Fusion teas, and have been meaning to get around to trying some of the other mate blends from my sampler pack.

The flavor is nice, though the chocolate isn’t the rich fudgy sort of taste of the chocolate tea I had yesterday; it’s more of a cocoa flavor with some subtle bittersweet notes, and reminds me a lot of the taste of pure cocoa shells. The tea does have notes a strong roasted nuts note coming through from the roasted mate/toasted rice/almond combo, and a subtle coffee note from the barley/chicory, and both of these flavors compliment the cocoa taste nicely. The tea is overall quite sweet, and I believe that’s because some rooibos is added to the blend, because the sweetness tastes a bit honey or caramel like.

Overall, a really good mate blend, and those can be hard to find!

I liked this one a lot. Nice chocolate flavor, blends with all the other flavors in it. Yum!!