Vanilla Macadamia Nut Mate No. 91

YUM! This is one of the three different teas/tisanes that I purchased when I visited Tea Chai Té a couple of weeks ago. I don’t usually order yerba maté, so I thought I’d step outside of my comfort zone a little and try something I wouldn’t normally purchase, and when I saw Vanilla Macadamia Nut … well, that’s all I needed, really!

There are really too few macadamia nut flavored teas/tisanes out there. Tasting this makes me wonder why. This is really incredible. The vanilla tones are smooth and creamy and sweet, and the taste of the macadamia nut sort of sneaks up on you, starting as a rather subtle flavor and developing with each sip. By mid-cup, it’s delicious macadamia nuttiness!

I was very intrigued by a macadamia nut tea. Combined with the vanilla, I was hoping for a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie vibe, and hot was actually pretty close! A very nice, creamy Yerba mate blend that wasn’t overwhelming.

The smell is very vanilla! Like the vanilla coffee is sometimes scented with.

Hmm, I feel like I’m tasting the vanilla and then the mate, but not together. Or something grassy. There’s a very slight note of macadamia, but I wish it had a little more of that.

It’s not bad, but after smelling it, I’m a bit disappointed by the taste.

Edit: Okay, I tried it again cold, and I like it much better! I moved it up from 65 to 81. I also now taste a coffee note.

Phew, I have finally worked through sipping down a lot of the teas I’ve been working on over the last few days, so now I’ve moved a new set of alphabet letters over into my focus area. I pulled this one for my Ode to Tea V entry! I reviewed it before, two years ago (here: https://steepster.com/mastressalita/posts/383379 ) but figured it had been long enough to give it a proper revisit.

I absolutely love the smell of this stuff. If you separate the herbaceous quality of the mate base beneath, the scent does remind me of a warm Macademia Nut sugar cookie. Has a very sweet vanilla aroma, with a somewhat nutty quality. On the sip… I can tell age has not done this tea any favors. I remember the flavor being a lot richer than I’m getting now. The mate is coming forth a bit more strongly, with that herbaceous hot hay note, and a hint of smokiness; not nearly as smoky as I have had yerba mate get in the past. The tea is still quite sweet, with some vanilla and nuts. I noted before it tasted like coffee to me, but I’m not really getting that now; perhaps one of those sweet and nutty coffee creamers, but not actual coffee beans.

I’m not going to slide my rating down though, as I remember this tea being an absolute standout in an area that isn’t well represented (flavored yerba mate) and think my neglect hasn’t done the flavorings any favors. All the more reason why it’s good I grabbed this one to sip down! Would do far more good to get rid of this less-than-steller tea and replace it with a fresh, tastier batch.

Whoa, I have never smelled a tea that smells so much like coffee!!! It a little weird to be honest. For the record, I don’t know anything about yerba mate. The taste is really light and toasty. The buttery macadamia nut is nicely complemented by the mellow vanilla flavor. Also, it kicked out my headache, so yay.