Guayakí Yerba Mate Chocolatté

Posted by in Chocolate Reviews on May 12 2009 | Leave A Comment
Guayaki Mate Chocolatté

For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, yerba mate is a very wonderful tea that’s popular in South America and often pushed for its health benefits. Namely, focus, clarity, and energy. I found this one in the “health food” section of Fry’s (the grocery store, not electronics), so you may have to hunt for it a little depending on where you are.

The box says that mate has been held as “the drink of the gods.” That sounds familiar; maybe it makes perfect sense to pair it with chocolate. Now, there’s something about mate that lends itself to adding other flavors. I recently had some vanilla nut mate and discovered the twist of adding gentler flavors to its strength.

Guayaki Mate Chocolatté

Another great thing about yerba mate in general is that it never gets bitter. So they recommend letting it brew for five to ten minutes. After leaving it for nine minutes, it was a beautiful caramel color. Right away, though, I could taste that dreaded leaf, stevia. Sure enough, it’s listed as part of the blend. Why, oh, why couldn’t they just let anyone who wants it add it in themselves? Ignoring the stevia, we also have nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves giving it a nice warm, spiced aroma that carries into the taste, as well. The chocolate blends in with a rather tender flavor, in about the latter half of the taste. It’s still a different kind of tea, being so strong, but adding other ingredients helps suit it to more palates.

It’s also common to drink it with, as they put it, “your favorite milk and sweetener.” For me, that’s almond beverage and just a touch of cane sugar. The almond can influence flavor, but I don’t really notice its taste anymore, so no worries about that. Despite drinking tea plain all the time, I actually like this one better like this, partially because the stevia taste is all but gone. Besides that, it becomes more of a drink. It stays clear, while flavorful. This is where you can see what they mean by putting “latte” in the name.

Guayaki is also a company you can trust, being fair trade, organic, and kosher, and growing their mate under the rainforest trees. Overall, it’s a must have for tea/chocolate lovers.

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Comments On This Post

  1. Wal Nussbaum

    How can one speak ill of stevia while praising vulgar cinnamon?!?

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