Premium Yerba Mate Buds
This tea has been retired/discontinued. Formerly BH24.
 |
|
Commercial Description
...Using techniques employed for traditional China Green tea production, carefully plucked buds from the Ilex paraguariensis (mate) bush are hand-processed to create this unique product. The mildly astringent, mellow infusion has interesting notes of fruit...
Brewing Instructions: (from Upton Tea Imports)
2¼ g/cup, 212°F, 5-10 min.
Ratings & Reviews
Page 1 of 1 page with 1 review
37 Aroma: 3/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 2/5Alex Zorach (1453 reviews) on Jan. 11th, 2012
The minute I heard about this new and unusual offering, I was fascinated and wanted to try it. Although I'm glad I did, I found this to be disappointing: I did not enjoy it as much as even a typical black tea, or as much as typical Yerba mate, whether green or roasted. I also found it to be very similar in flavor and aroma to raspberry leaf tea, and I would prefer raspberry leaf tea to this one. This product is available from Upton Tea Imports as well as from Harney and Sons Tea.
The dry leaf looks a lot like black or oolong tea leaves. It consists of whole leaves attached to unopened buds. In brewing, it unfurls, oolong-like. It looks very similar to tea leaf. It produces a remarkably green-colored cup; I found it interesting how greenish it was--much more so than green yerba mate I've tried, or than most green teas.
Aroma is fairly strongly of olive, like black olive or kalamata olive, and also strongly reminiscent of raspberry leaf, with a sort of muted quality vaguely suggestive of black tea, some dusty qualities. The aroma is not terribly complex. Flavor is muted and smooth, but not necessarily pleasant. Oily mouthfeel, with a metallic finish. I do not detect the fruity notes that Upton comments on.
The overall character is strongly reminiscent of red raspberry leaf tea, an herbal tea that I enjoy quite a lot. But I do not like this one as much.
Very interesting to try, but I would not order it again. I think it's a great idea to try out new production methods like this, and I would encourage the people who run this operation to keep trying. I am glad I purchased this, both to try it, and to encourage people to keep working on it. But in my opinion, this is a product that is not quite there yet. Chinese tea production, and production in other areas, has hundreds of years of tradition and refining behind it. This product did not taste good to me, but it's just starting out, so I would expect it to get a lot better in future years if they keep working on it.
Page 1 of 1 page with 1 review
More Teas from from Upton Tea Imports
Holy Basil Purple Leaf
| Style: | Tulsi / Holy Basil |
| Region: | India |
| Caffeine: | Caffeine Free |
| Leaf: | Loose |
99
5 Ratings
Kenilworth Estate OP
| Style: | Ceylon Black Tea |
| Region: | Kandy, Sri Lanka |
| Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
| Leaf: | Loose |
88
4 Ratings
