Yerba Mate 10Unsmoked Loose Leaf Yerba Mate Tea | Erva Mate for Drinking | 24 Month Aged Reserva Natural | Tea Drink 500g 1.1lbs | Sustained Energy Jitter Free | Made in Argentina for the Argentine

New to drinking Yerba Mate and certainly am not drinking it correctly, but I have enjoyed this tea. I appreciate being jitter free. Will look into getting a gourd and all that jazz someday, for now, I am just going to enjoy it. No complaints

I wanted Yerba Mate 10 Unsmoked Loose Leaf Yerba Mate Tea because I've heard Mate is good, but I've never had it before. As I've never had it before I didn't know what to expect. I personally enjoyed the flavor which was similar to a green tea but still different. I thought it tasted a little smokey, but it wasn't overwhelming like some smokey teas can be. Overall it was good, but I know I've not drinking it properly since I don't have a tea gourd.

This yerba mate is advertised as unsmoked, but the first thing I noticed when I steeped it was its smoky aroma and flavor. Could it simply be the natural bitterness that I am mistaking for smoky flavor? Maybe, but I don't think my palate would play those kinds of tricks on me. I doctored it with a little honey and mint, which helped to cut through the smoky bitterness, but still. I even had a bit of smoky aftertaste. The loose leaf tea does look intact and quite fresh, not powdery like old or over-processed teas can. But flavorwise, this is harsher and smokier than I was anticipating from the ad.

I'm still not entirely sure how to make this properly, specifically how much to use. Some have said to fill a container, or gourd, 1/2 to 2/3 full, but I think that was for a group of people to pass around. I just used the amount to make approximately 2 cups of tea and I felt pretty good afterwards with no bad consequences. I used hot water from the tap because I read that a common mistake is to use boiling water, and I drank it through a filter straw that I had. I thought it was really good. I also read that it's enjoyed for its bitter taste, but I didn't think it was very bitter at all. I thought it had a slight hint of a traditional tea flavor, but mostly herbal tasting. I can't wait to try more, but I will be pacing myself, and want to see if it affects my sleep habits at all. Honestly I don't feel too affected by it. I did get less than my normal amount of sleep last night, I tried this during breakfast this morning, and I'm still feeling pretty alert at 4:30pm. I'll take it. :) It's a nice tasting drink for something different and I think I'll enjoy some variations that I read about as well, like making it with milk. Thanks for letting me try this out, it's great.

I'm into this and I think you may be too, if you like smokiness and unsweetened tea.Yerba mate I've had in the past had some natural sweetness. This one actually does not have any. However, it is not astringent (bitter). Instead the sweetness is just replaced with a light but distinct smoky flavor and aroma, while the overall experience remains smooth. It's quite interesting, as much as I enjoy the sweeter variety usually.I have to give the product 4 stars, and I even considered 3, solely based on the fact that the very product title says "unsmoked". It tastes like literally the opposite of that. But if the title simply said "smoked" instead, I think I'd give it a 5. It's an inexpensive perfectly pleasant experience, so long as you don't want sweetness.Some tips on preparation:I didn't have a yerba mate gourd or straw so I used a tea infuser. You can prepare it with pretty much any tea filter. Here are the steps.- Fill a tea filter with a few tablespoons of yerba mate. It's to taste but generally use 3x the amount of green tea you'd use for a cup, and dial it up or down from there.- Add a little bit of cold water just to dampen the leaves.- Then start adding water at about 70°C or 158°F, and drinking the infusion right away.The main difference between brewing this and regular green tea is that you don't let this steep like tea. You add the water, not hot enough to scorch the leaves or your tongue, and drink the infusion instantly. You can keep infusing it like 10 or more times. Enjoy!

I know that tea flavor can be subjective, but I personally enjoyed this yerba mate tea. I'm not a big tea connoisseur, but I've been trying different teas lately for health benefits and I think I can stick with this one.I use french press to make this. I follow instructions for heating up water to right temperature in order to make this tea. I've had this tea every single day over the past month. It seems to give me a nice, smooth energy boost unlike the jitteriness of the energy drinks I used to have every day.The bag was pretty large for the price, weighing in at over 17oz. and the expiration date was well into the future.

When I opened the bag and saw the tea, it was not what I was expecting. It's powdery and dusty. Just scooping it out of the bag made a cloud of dust. I used 2 tablespoons and brewed it for 4 minutes, covered. It created a cloudy brownish yellow tea. I stirred and sipped as is. It was bitter and tasted like dirt. I just poured it out. I like teas that I can drink as is, I don't want to add sweeteners just to tolerate a bad tasting tea. This tea tastes bad and looks and smells like a bag of old dusty dirty hay. This is going in the trash.