Marfa - Dark Roast

Sipdown! (23 | 239)

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge (September) – “A yerba mate”

Okay, so this isn’t technically a yerba maté, but it’s in that same vein of non-tea caffeinated plants, so that’s good enough for me ha ha.

Despite being a dark roast, this still has such a mellow and comforting flavor. I can still taste the earthy-sweet yaupon, and it reminds me of golden raisins. But there are also those lovely toasty notes that add a bit of dark caramel richness and deeper wood and toast flavors. Perhaps a tiny hint of charcoal minerality as well.

Happily not a sipdown for long, as I recently ordered CatSpring’s holiday yaupon blend, and another sampler of the three plain yaupon tisanes along with it. :3

Y’all know that I have a total soft spot for anything roasted so this yaupon is hitting all the marks for me this morning. There’s still a bit of a slightly grassier earthiness and minerality, but mostly it tastes so golden and toasty with a lot of flavours that make me think of roasted grains and – to a bit of a lesser extent – coffee, with just a faint sort of whisper of smokiness. It feels very Autumnal to me, and was just very pleasant and easy going to sip on today!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChzrV3euzlq/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zz0kNHKW8g

For the sipdown prompt, “a tea that reminds you of a family member.” Both my mom and sister are coffee drinkers rather than tea drinkers, and deep, roasty notes in tea remind me of the flavor of coffee.

This is noticably more roasty than the medium roast, which had a sweeter, caramel note. There is still some sweetness here, though it is more of a dark molasses. The woody notes are most strong here, and the darker roast brings out a stronger coffee and burnt toast presence as well. The nuttiness is more earthy; I got honey-roasted nuts from the medium roast, and I’m getting roasted walnuts or chestnuts from this one. Of all three of the Catspring Yaupon, this one tastes the least of grass/hay… I don’t really taste that flavor at all.

I liked all three of the Catspring Yaupon varieties! I found less difference between the plain yaupon and the medium roast, and more of a noticable difference in the dark roast. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite of the three, but probably the dark roast, for that deep and satisfying coffee-like flavor.

Lighter and sweeter than some dark roasts, and with less of a bitter bite. It’s very similar to the medium roast from this same company, but perhaps a bit fuller and a bit less sweet.

Earthy. Solid. Energizing. Self-Reliant. Perfection.

I rarely use teabags. In fact, I can’t remember the last time that I did, but this was good. It tastes like roasted yerba mate, but it has slight undertones of dark cocoa and a stevia sweetness. I can’t be super specific or drawn out on this note, but I liked this tea. It gave me a nice buzz as well. :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSWMfu-gcmO/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en