Samurai Mate

Sip Down and Backlog

I bought more of this for my upcoming birthday gift. This is one of those teas that bring me back to the Teavana days…they had a Samurai Chai Mate which I’d drink during every shift. I remember purchasing a full 2lb bag prior to the store closing with both store and work discount stacked. Like this sample, it didn’t last long. I absolutely love this tea and will be happy to have a whole bunch of it soon :)

This tea was a sample with my Brigadoon Breakfast order.

The aroma of the dry blend was heavenly. I prepared myself for a super fruity treat on this warm and sunny spring day of outside yard work.

The steeped tea is quite different, though! Now it smells like cinnamon candy, the kind that is so strong that it tastes like clove. Because of the drastic change, I sweetened it and put it in the fridge to chill and drank it with lunch instead.

It wasn’t bad, but I am not a cinnamon candy fan, and I was so looking forward to the tropical fruit flavors I smelled in the dry blend. I am glad I got to try it, but I wouldn’t buy it for myself.

Wanted to try this sampler as it’s not really something I would buy on its own. I wouldn’t exactly call it Teavana (I’ve had some heinous experiences with their teas) but it’s still reminiscent of a car air freshener in similar ways. Not getting any of the fruit notes that I smelled in the sample pack. Weird. Other than plain mate I think I’ll stick to chocolate mates now. Incidentally, Teavana had a glorious chocolate mate and I miss it every day.

Another single serve sample.

I don’t get this one. Why add all these other spices and fruit when you’re going to add candy cinnamon flavoring? Unsurprisingly, it mostly just tastes like fake cinnamon. Oh, and for some reason there’s also almond flavoring? So it ends up tasting like fake cinnamon and marzipan?

Honestly unsure what they were going for here. There’s a lot of mention of tropical fruit, but I don’t taste any of it. Can’t really even tell it’s a green maté base with how strong the flavoring is. I think this is a knockoff of a Teavana tea, but I’ve never had that tea so doesn’t give much context for me ha ha.

Tried this from the herbal sampler. This gave me serious Teavana tea flash backs. Lots and lots of cinnamon flavor that ends in a very sweet fruity flavor. Doesn’t need sugar. I can’t really describe the fruit flavor other than on the more tropical side, with balanced lemongrass notes. Gave me nice smooth energy boost too. Probably wouldn’t buy more, but it was a lovely tea to enjoy.

The dry leaf smells so good! I can’t stop taking a sniff. Reminds me a llittle of sweet almond green from Davidstea. I taste almond fruity goodness with a hint of cinnamon.