Taragui

Big bags section tea after long, long time.

I tried to find any information about this tea from Argentina, but no luck. I will let library ladies add more inforamtion if they will be lucky.

I took the bag out of foil wrapping and well, the aroma was very strong artificial strawberry and raspberry. It reminded me some soft drink powders (dunno how they are called elsewhere), especially the red berries flavours. Then it reminded me bit bubblegums with again, red fruits notes.

When brewed, it started to be cloudy and apparently black tea with fruit flavour. I was bit glad, as I wanted fruit black/green tea.

The taste wasn’t that artificial, rather not at all; strawberry was the one who won the most dominant fruit award. Somewhere in background there was raspberry. I don’t know if there are some other fruits; tea bag (and box) shows only those two. Base tea have seen better times, I blame the age for being it bland and bit rough in mouth.

Typical bagged Darjeeling.

With Assam notes.
It’s floral in aroma, but in taste it is rather malty and robust; not that light. Even quite astringent for me, though I let it steep for short time.

The carbon footprint for this tea bag must be indeed high. From India shipped to Argentina, where it was produced and then to Europe? Well…
Sometimes it is crazy when you think about it this way.

Basic.

Okay black tea, I expect from it’s from Ceylon.

Tea itself is as I said – basic. Nothing from complexity, bit malty and that’s all. Forgettable.

Quick note on a swap from Martin Bednar.

Buttered straw with tangy finish. Good body, thirst-quenching.

Pretty good for what’s probably an old sencha.

There is nothing to write about this Earl Grey. It tastes like plain black tea with little sweet notes and bit of citruses. Listen to this instead:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuaTY3zHO8Q
I was listening to it while drinking

You probably heard that Sabine, how a nice name for bad weather, hit Europe. Maybe you are from Europe as well :) – there are few people from this part of World in my followers too.

And today it hit my country. It is lots of rain, very windy (so far no hurricane), but now I have noticed an electricity drop. And if that comes to my town, it is serious!

So far there aren’t in my town big issues, only one building lost roof, but no trees fell and so on.

And the tea? Well, it was actually very generic. It was hay in taste and bit of jasmine. Not lingering, rather watery and mostly weird was brown colour of brew. It’s such a shame, it was so boring tea.

Can’t find any info online about these teabags from Martin.

Not as earthy and smokey as some yerba maté I’ve had. More sweet — almost fruity —than bitter. It’s a taste difficult to describe.

I could literally stomach only 4 sips of a hot brew and had to pour out the rest because it didn’t agree with me. Rough stuff in my belly even with food. No adverse reaction to the Guayakí canned/bottled stuff so I’ll try the other bag of this iced.

I remember this tea more grassy and less hay. But I am afraid it is caused by age of this tea bag, because it is one of the “big bags” section again. But it wasn’t too bad!

Yeah, it brews hay yellow colour, quite cloudy as well. But taste is quite smooth and hay like, as I already said. It is past its best days, but still fully drinkable.

Derk – you have an email on your Steepster throwaway account :)

(note. This is my personal subjective review)
If you are new to mate by all means try it, it’s a good starter mate it will give you all the goodies and feel good pick me ups that mate is very famous for, it is definitely hard to brew, most times you will get a enormous kick of bitter flavour at the start and it will gradually blend to a smooth mate experience, it has interesting bold body with fruity notes.
Now let’s gets serious, if you are a hard core experienced mate drinker and somehow you have managed to not try Taragüi for one I envy you, haha jk but really if you are curious to try it I would advise to look elsewhere to an experienced mate drinker this will most likely taste like what a bag of rusted doorknobs must taste like I know it sounds harsh but again it’s my personal subjective opinion, safe to say there’s good news there’s many different brands to explore.
Final verdict spend your money on a different brand .

How i got it: Tried it in a church’s outdoors trip

Experience: I only knew this tea from hearing, because Taragui is mainly famous for its mate, not exactly its teas. Anyway, i took the opportunity to try this tea and it went better than i thought. It doesn’t have a very evident aroma, but i could say that it is more on the classic Ceylon side, although not that complex. Its flavor follows that line too: simple but well defined and lasting, Ceylon-style taste. At the end, a not-so-great, but nice cup. Good enough.

Would i buy it?: This can be a competitor in the ‘everyday black’ category. It has potential, so maybe i could reach for one of these if need a change.

Acabo de tomarme un rico té del tipo Ceylón :)

One of my favorite teas of all time and also one of the best yerba mates you can find. No stems! Just a pure clean taste. Another great thing about this and all yerba mate is that you do not need hot water to make it (see recipe below).

I think many people who dislike mate because of the smoky or bitter flavor should give a no-stem variety a shot. And if you did not grow up drinking yerba mate from a gourd, you may not want to invest in one if you are trying at home. The gourd adds to the smoky flavor 10-fold. Unless you like smoky, then go to town.

Here’s my recipe for cold-steeped mate:
1. Toss the bombilla straw in a ceramic cup.
2. Fill cup 1/4 – 1/3 of the way with yerba mate.
3. Add filtered water to fill the cup 3/4 of the way full.
4. Wait a moment for the tea to settle. When you add the water, bubbles will become trapped at the bottom of the cup. As they release, they will bring a chunk of the tea up with them. This can cause spillage if you fill your cup up too much.
5. Add more water if you desire to fill the cup up all the way.
6. Steep for 20-60 minutes at room temperature – OR – Steep overnight in your fridge.
7. Repeat for up to 4 times per tea serving. (Typically the 2nd steep is the best. Sometimes I throw the tea out after the 3rd steep, whatever your preference.)

Also, for larger batches (or if you don’t want to use the bombilla), a french press will be your best friend. Same rules basically apply for cold steeps (room temperature steeps), but hot steeps work just as well.

A good blend- but if you cherish a strong, black, dark and astringent cup an excellent Ceylon should be, don´t expect to be marveled.

I worked with some Argentinians who introduced me to mate. I’d only ever tried it in the mixed versions they have in the US (teavana often has it included in their samplers, like white tea + mate, so grossssss) and have always had a strong aversion to it. Turns out when made on its own, its delicious! I bought a mini starter set with this tea (actually the version with stems) and a mini gourd and bombilla, and love it! I have never had straight mate in bag form or made like a normal tea, so I have no option for those options. For the traditional packed gourd/bombilla style of drinking mate, I’ve only so far made it straight, but will be trying it with honey in the near future. I’m still learning about mate so I’m going to give it a rating with room for improvement, but so far so good!

Good value!

It tastes good