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“Steep Information: Amount: 3 tablespoons Water: 16 ounces boiling filtered water Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes Served: Hot Tasting Notes: Dry Leaf Smell:...” Read full tasting note
“I bought this in Rachel’s awesome sale — thanks again! I don’t really understand the dislike that others have for yerba mate… I happen to love it. I think it’s all in how it’s brewed though. I...” Read full tasting note
“I bought this tea as part of the sampler they offered some time ago (a long time ago!) and I don’t think they sell this anymore. But that’s OK because while I do not dislike this tea, it is not...” Read full tasting note
“So after trying Sweet Yerba Mate the other day, I gave this variant a try. I can definitely taste the lack of licorice in this one, and the addition of green tea in it’s place. Mostly the same...” Read full tasting note
Origin: Kukicha Japanese green tea and organic yerba maté blended in the U.S.
Flavor Profile: Notes of fields, earth and minerals converge for a refreshingly bittersweet brew.
Tea Story: Kukicha (a Japanese green tea made from the stems of the tea plant and also known as “twig tea” or “stem tea”) is blended with organic South American yerba maté (a high-caffeine herb reputed to have medicinal qualities) for a robust cross-culture concoction like you’ve never tried. Leaves with the pungent aroma of earth, grasses and passion fruit and the appearance like camouflage, dry fall leaves, green twigs and woodchips brew into a bright green-gold infusion with scents of roasting pine, clover honey and sweet grasses.
The flavor is astringent and grassy, with nutty notes at the front of the palate, wet soil at the back, and toasted millet and crushed gravel all around. The aftertaste is an enduring mix of copper-zinc minerality, clover fields and a gentle, pervasive sweetness.
Samovarian Poetry: Rocks become earth. Earth becomes grass. Grass becomes fields. Shift with the nature of this brew as you sip.
Food Pairings: Kuki Yerba Maté is great hot or iced with honey (or even made into a honey-lemon-tea granita), but it also pairs well with a range of flavorful foods. Cheesy dishes, like cheddar cheese grits, grilled corn-on-the-cob with queso blanco and lime, parmesan-laden baked polenta and cheese empanadas, hold their own. Oatmeal with butter and brown sugar or pancakes drizzled with dulce de leche can accompany Kuki Yerba Maté for breakfast on those “power morning” kind of days. Deserts like alfajores, petit fours, Bing cherries, ripe blueberries or rich dark chocolate pudding, also fare well alongside Kuki Yerba Maté.
Samovar's is dedicated to preserving the simplicity and integrity of the tea traditions and inspiring people to practice peace through drinking tea.
Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tablespoons
Water: 16 ounces boiling filtered water
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: vegetal, grassy
Steeped Tea Smell: vegetal, earthy
Flavor: grassy, bitter, MilitiaJim got motor oil
Body: Full
Aftertaste: bitter, grassy
Liquor: opaque with particulate, murky brown-green
We both managed two sips, and then tossed it down the drain.
Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/08/samovar-loose-leaf-mate-tea-kuki-yerba.html
I bought this in Rachel’s awesome sale — thanks again! I don’t really understand the dislike that others have for yerba mate… I happen to love it. I think it’s all in how it’s brewed though. I waited a while for the water to cool and steeped 2-3 minutes. The flavor is sweet and earthy and for some reason has a silky consistency. I also noticed pine before I read that in the description. I couldn’t tell ya what kukicha is (apparently twigs) but this is nice. There was a peppermint yerba mate sample in with the other Samovar samples (there are a few in one pouch), so this one has a peppermint flavor. Now the second steep was another story. I brewed it too hot and too long (just boiled, a few minutes) and the flavor was a little too tangy, bitter, astringent. The first cup was deliciousness. The second cup needed a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. I kind of already supposed that yerba mate should not be boiled, but I started thinking of what a caffeine kick black/yerba mate blends would be.
Future self, future reference: low temp, low time
I bought this tea as part of the sampler they offered some time ago (a long time ago!) and I don’t think they sell this anymore. But that’s OK because while I do not dislike this tea, it is not one that I’m in a rush to order again.
It is interesting though. Earthy, but what I like about this is that the Kukicha sort of curbs the earthiness of the Yerba Mate and gives it a more nutty kind of flavor. Nutty, sweet, earthy, and vegetative. Toasty. Pleasant.
So after trying Sweet Yerba Mate the other day, I gave this variant a try.
I can definitely taste the lack of licorice in this one, and the addition of green tea in it’s place. Mostly the same comments to be said about this one, except instead of a sweet taste I’m getting something a little bit more bitter. Perhaps next time I should try letting the water cool closer to a green tea temp before infusing, even though Samovar recommends boiling water for this one.
Interesting stuff. I’m a huge fan of Kukicha, so when Samovar sent me this free sample of Kuki Yerba Mate I couldn’t wait to brew some up. It has quite an interesting flavor profile. Very earthy and deep. Hints of sweetness stand out occasionally.
Sipdown no. 119 of the year 2014. Not sorry to see it go. Now I just have the peppermint left, and as I like it best of all I hope it won’t be too onerous of a sipdown.
Ah well, at least I gave yerba mate a try. But I feel pretty safe in saying it’s never going to be my cup of tea.
Maybe try it in less than boiling water? Maté gets bitter if it’s oversteeped.
Hmmm, you didn’t get sweet in there?
nope no sweet – i’ll give a lower (green setting?) temp a try in the breville and ignore the tin and see what i get
Wow. A 1. I am intrigued. Lol.