Mate Libre

I saw this RTD while grocery shopping over the weekend and was kind of surprised since I thought I’d tried all of Mate Libre’s flavours – but this was new to me. I wonder if it was a seasonal flavour from this summer? Still so weird to see a watermelon LTO in the heart of winter, though…

It might actually be my favourite Mate Libre RTD I’ve tried though! The watermelon notes are really juicy and refreshing, but also coupled with a pleasant bit of upfront tartness a little like hibiscus? Nothing excessive, though. It finishes more clean and earthy with notes of the mate itself. Really well balanced, and such a great natural sweetness level too!

I thought I’d tried all of the Mate Libre RTD flavours but I saw this one while shopping yesterday and didn’t recognize it so I bought it to drink on my commute home. It’s very Mojito like in terms of taste, with a really lovely sweet and sour note of fresh, zesty lime. The mint is surprising because it tastes like a blend of peppermint and spearmint. The spearmint has a very lingering, mouth coating sweetness that reminds me a little of the leaf shaped mint gummy candies. I was never a huge fan of those.

It’s not that it’s super unpleasant or anything, but that candy-like comparison does feel a smidge out of place when you have such a strong presence of fresh and natural flavours coming from the lime and grassy/mineral yerba mate that acts as the foundation of this drink.

I probably wouldn’t rebuy this one.

Hmm, tastes more or less like ginger ale, which I don’t usually drink, with the addition of mate bitterness and non-caloric sweetener, aspartame maybe? Nope, not aspartame. The ingredients show sugarcane reb.m. Not sure what that is if it is not sugar. I’ll look it up and get back.

I would not buy this as I am not typically an energy drink consumer. I do like Yerba mate though and enjoy the bit of wake up buzz that comes from it.

This is my first review of one of the box items. This drink is peppy, I’ll give it that.

There’s that fizzy ginger ale thing going on.

I am probably not the person to be reviewing this drink as I am biased. Ginger ale reminds me of having my tonsils taken out.

I’ve had this can/RTD sitting my fridge for so long now that I finally just said ‘fuck it’ tonight and decided to have it with supper/writing tasting notes tonight so that I’m starting fresh for tomorrow in terms of teas…

I like this so much more than the original flavour though! It still tastes like yerba mate with the sweet grassiness and little bit of naturally earthy/smoky undertone but the passionfruit is bright and sweet and not as harshly tangy/acidic as I expected it to be. I keep getting note of banana which is throwing my a bit but mostly it’s just very refreshing and not too heavy. Really well balanced!

This is a sipdown but I forgot to put it in my Steepster cupboard so not stash number decrease…

This was a gifted RTD through the MTL Tea Festival. Truthfully I didn’t think I would like it because I have a complex and not always favourable relationship with ginger, but it ended up being pretty tasty! I’d describe it as very similar to a ginger beer but with an added grassy earthiness from the mate used in making it. Refreshing and not overly spicy, but still some heat and tickle. Not my first pick, but good and I definitely see the appeal.

Montreal Tea Festival – Tea #16

Another RTD that this company was sampling at their booth – it likes like it’s the first flavour apart from their original recipe that they’ve carried and I think we were actually technically getting a sneak peak of it, because on their website it’s listed as “coming soon”.

If I’m being honest with myself, despite the fact this one did not taste as clearly/distinctly of the yerba mate used in it I do actually think I liked it better. It was very fresh/refreshing and the rose was the more prominent note, accented with a hint of tartness that only made it feel even crisper. Perfect amount of sweetness, as well. I like rose a lot, and this fizzy rose drink with hints of hibiscus and mate!? Well it’s right up my alley. I could probably drink litres of this at a time…

I honestly probably would have bought several bottles of this, save for the fact I only had my backpack with me and I didn’t feel comfortable tossing several liquid filled bottles into my backpack along with all my newly purchased tea and teaware.

Montreal Tea Festival – Tea #15

The other yerba mate booth at the festival – but as an RTD. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but there were actually a lot of RTD booths (mostly kombucha though). I liked this booth; it was very sleek and visually appealing, and the drink itself sounded pretty cool/well executed.

I was actually very impressed – it tasted really good while still also tasting distinctly like yerba mate! Basically just a very crisp, refreshing mate with a burst of sweet citrus. More orange feeling than lemon I suppose, but it’s a generic enough citrus note while still feeling authentically natural. Not too sweet, either. This might be the best RTD mate I’ve had to date that still tasted like mate! Very impressive.

I also swear I’ve seen this company somewhere else other than the festival but I cannot for the life of me place where, and that’s driving me insane…