It’s really fun adding a new tea to Steepster. A) It makes me feel like I’ve uncovered some lost treasure of the Sierra Madre by buying this tea that no one else has reviewed. B) When you add something like this tea, you just get to click so many boxes! It’s a Chai, it’s a Rooibos, it’s a Maté, it’s SUPERTEAAAAA!
ahem.
I bought this with a little bit of giddyness (read: spite) that it might replace Teavana’s Samurai Maté. Close Colonel, but no cigar.
It’s a very good blend, and I’m so far ecstatic with the quality and flavor from my Ovation purchases. Definitely a company I will buy from again.
To me, the standout flavors are the cardamom and the rooibos. The fruit blends a little bit behind those two, and gives a little bit of a… lift, for lack of a better term, to the flavor. The cinnamon and anise are noticeable in the blend, but take a much more subdued backseat than I’m used to for either one of those two spices. These are typically strong, domineering beasties, and they’re comfortably waiting their turn on this one.
Overall, the smoothness of the flavor here really impresses me. It just feels like silk gliding over your tongue, and none of the flavors are overtly grabbing for your attention. It is very relaxing… which is probably a bad thing for a maté blend. This could very easily be one of those awkward moments where you had to explain to your boss that you were up all night drinking tea. Try it with a straight face sometime.
So why no bell and no cigar? I really do have a big love on for my cassia cinnamon. To me, the most disappointing thing about this blend is that the cinnamon is so passive. I think this has to do with Ovation using cinnamon chips instead of cinnamon/cassia flavoring. It is also possible that Ovation is using ceylon (true) cinnamon, which is supposed to be less ‘HI I’M CINNAMON LETS BE FRIENDS’, and my ignorant American tongue just doesn’t know what it’s missing.
Definitely a good brew, but it isn’t going to dethrone my Samurai. There’s got to be a better joke there than that. Oh well.
I think the joke that is lacking is inappropriate for this venue but its there – oh its there!