Teavana: Spice Nut Mate Herbal Tea
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
Last year, I tried Teavana’s MatéVana® Herbal Tea and I thought it was very flavorful. So, my decision to try this blend was an easy one. Spiced Nut Maté is full of fun and flavor. I imagine the Teavana crew having loads of fun making this blend or deciding to add it to their inventory.
Let’s cover the ingredients: Roasted Maté, Rooibos, chocolate bits, almond bits, cocoa, cactus blossoms, orange peel, cornflower & sunflower petals, pistachio & macadamia nuts, and red peppercorns
Did I miss anything? Do you see anything in there you like? I cannot drink this beverage within 10 feet from someone before they ask me what I’m drinking due to its delicious scent. The aroma from the maté mix lingers pleasantly in the air. As you can tell from the ingredients, it’s a few ingredients away from being a cake or cookie. The pistachio, cocoa, and red peppercorns probably standout more than the other flavors to me. It’s absolutely delicious. Chai drinkers might enjoy this mix with all its attitude and spice. There’s no tea at all in the blend. Maté does contain a very small amount of caffeine. Yerba Maté has been growing steadily thanks to tea companies like Teavana. A lot of people are trying blends similar to spice nut maté, and they are liking the intense and “happy” flavors greeting their taste buds. If you want to try a maté, and you enjoy some of the flavors mentioned in the ingredients list – try this one.
marTEA
English Breakfast Tea: Let me start by saying English Breakfast tea is quite confusing for new tea drinkers. If you are an experienced tea drinker, you know what I’m talking about. You’ve probably established your favorite English Breakfast teas by now. Anyway, almost every account of its origin that I’ve read did relate the tea as a breakfast compliment. That said, this is an anytime of the day tea. Keep in mind it does have caffeine, but almost all black teas have caffeine. Choice Organic’s english breakfast tea is a blend of teas from Ceylon, Assam, and East Africa. The tea is organically grown and certified fair trade. This blend comes in a pyramid tea infuser. All-in-all, I felt the tea was on par with other bagged teas. The tea was very smooth, but it did require milk and sugar to bring out the flavor. With Assam tea in the blend, I expected it to have more of a kick. This tea is perfect for the casual tea drinker. If you require more of a bold flavor, this is not the tea for you.
Jade Green: I was looking forward to trying this one. I let the water cool to about 180 degrees and steeped the tea for about 3 minutes. Like the other Choice Organic teas, the tea comes in a pyramid biodegradable tea infuser, and it’s organic and fair trade certified. The tea has an interesting almost fruity flavor to it. The vegetal flavor was slightly bitter for my taste, but the faint almost floral flavor helped me through the cup. I’ve had bad luck with Choice Organic’s green teas. The bitterness is just too much for me to truly enjoy the cup. Choice Organic describes the tea as: 
Sweet Liquorice Mint: I don’t often take the time to drink an herbal tea (tisane), but when I do, I prefer something minty. This was a great herbal tea. It was sweet and minty. The flavor lingers leaving your mouth with a fresh minty taste. I highly recommend this tisane to anyone that likes peppermint, spearmint, or liquorice root. The tea is absolutely delicious. This would be a great tea after a meal. Not only will it leave a smile on your face and cleanse your palate, it will help you digest your meal. One of the ingredients is organic cornflowers. I cannot honestly say I detect the flavor, but I applaud Choice Organic for adding something unique and interesting to the herbal blend. Sweet Liquorice Mint is a caffeine free beverage because it does not contain tea. So, feel free to drink this one all day long. I can’t say enough about the flavor of this blend – awesome.
At the 2007 World Tea Expo, I stopped at the booth of Tea District. As I’m strolling along the showroom floor, the booth caught my eye. I read over some of their product information and grabbed a couple of samples that I blogged about last year. During my blogging of their teas, I discovered that Tea District is a locally owned manufacturer and importer of tea in St. Paul, MN. The one thing that stuck in my mind about this company was the fact that it was started by one woman’s passion to bring quality teas and tea related products to consumers. In an industry with a ton of competition, it requires a lot of guts to take the “bull by the horns” and start a new tea company. The Tea District offers a wide variety of tea products. They carry 12 blends of black, green, red, and herbal teas. Tea District’s teas are contained in bio-degradable round tea pods and packaged in a 100% recyclable tea canister. Note: with every purchase of Children’s Tribute Citrus Green Tea, five percent of the sales is donated to the Children’s Cancer Research Fund – 
It’s time for an herbal tea (aka tisane)… It’s hard for me to step back from tea (aka camellia senensis) and drink a tisane, but I do like to have one on occasion. Companies like Mighty Leaf do an excellent job of blending popular herbs and fruits together to create a healthy and comforting beverage. It’s important to know when you are drinking an herbal tea/tisane, that it doesn’t contain camellia senensis. Therefore, you are not getting the great health benefits of tea. That said, many of the popular herbal blends are known for their own distinct health properties. Although it’s rare that I drink a tisane, when I do I try to find one that is very flavorful. Most tisanes are naturally decaffeinated. So, they are perfect for an evening beverage to help you relax. Many herbal teas are known to help digestion, which makes for a smart after dinner drink.
I wanted to try a Maté, and I picked the right one. My goodness, this is good. It’s so flavorful; I crave it in the mornings. It’s a substitute for both tea and coffee. Yerba Maté is a species of holly, and Teavana credits Argentina as the origin of the shrub. Maté is made by steeping the dried leaves of yerba maté. This particular maté is mixed with almond bits, crushed cocoa beans, cactus blossoms, sunflower, and cornflower petals. The scent and flavor reminds me of a mix between coffee and cocoa. I’ve read that maté has a strong veggie flavor that is reminiscent of green tea. This maté couldn’t be further from that description. If you are a tea and coffee drinker, you should give this a try. The texture of the beverage is very smooth and relaxing. If you like the ingredients included in this mix, you’ll love this herbal. I almost forget that it is an herbal. Lately, due to my work schedule I’ve been drinking more coffee than normal. Yerba Maté helps me get back to tea drinking on the weekends. The ingredients mixed in this maté are very well balanced. This is a great change-up beverage.