Tea Battle – Pixie Organic Dark Roast Mate versus Canarias Yerba Mate

This is tea review number 3 from the CRFA show.

Yerba mate tea from the yerba mate plant contains a wealth of health benefits.  According to the Yerba Mate Association of the Americas, some of the health benefits of this amazing cited were:

• Yerba mate is a central nervous system stimulant that provides a unique sustaining energy due to its complex combination of xanthine alkaloids including caffeine, theophylline (also found in green tea) and theobromine (the “euphoriant” also found in chocolate), as well as pantothenic acid – which prevents over-stimulation of the central nervous system.
• Yerba mate is also a rich source of magnesium, which has been proven to ease anxiety without over-stimulating.
• Yerba mate quickens the mind and increases alertness and acuity.
• The yerba mate plant contains a number of powerful phytochemicals called saponins.  These important phytochemicals, along with the many antioxidants found in yerba mate, stimulate the immune system and help the body fight disease.
• Yerba mate can reduce the severity of some allergies and hay fever.

pixie mate on left

Yerba mate tastes amazing.  I’ll be reviewing Pixie Mate’s Organic Dark Roast Mate and Canarias Yerba Mate from Brazil.  I wanted to see how an instant yerba mate would compare to the real thing.  Canarias Yerba Mate is one of the most popular brands of yerba mate in the world and one of the first yerba mate’s I tried.  I apologize in advance though as I do not have the traditional bombilla and gourd for drinking yerba mate.

Pixie mate first.  The ingredients listed are: organic yerba mate, organic Black Tea, organic roasted chicory root, organic roasted ramon nut.  The smell of the tea reminds of a stronger version of the Chinese gunpowder tea.  This tea is very clean and light; the taste reminds me of Chinese gunpowder too, but with a nuttier hazelnut finish.  Side note: Chicory root is a very popular natural substitute for coffee.  If you’re looking to kick the coffee habit you can transition using a chicory root based coffee such as Teeccino or Inka.  You can generally find this substitute in any supermarket or health food store. The brew is medium bodied, and I think it would make a fantastic iced tea with some honey and ice cubes in the summer.  Overall as a dark roast mate, it doesn’t work.  It’s too weak and doesn’t taste like yerba mate much, but as a regular tea I would get this again because I like the nutty flavour.  I would love to have this iced cold after hot yoga.  Yum!

canarias yerba mate close up shot

The Canarias Yerba Mate only has leaves, and does not contains twigs.  A yerba mate with twigs would have more bitter characteristics than a blend without.  The body is heavier than the pixie mate.  The smell of yerba mate is very earthy, bold and complex; it’s almost like smelling boiled dirt.  If you love nature and the smell of the outdoors, then you will appreciate this drink.  The color of the brew reminds me of muddy water that’s been conjured up after you accidentally step into a still puddle.  Everyone in South America consumes this drink.  It’s even common for people to pass it around family style while sharing the brew from one gourd.  The Canarias yerba mate is sweet and woody when you first drink it and finishes with bitter notes.  if you haven’t tried this, I high encourage you and a group of friends to get together and brew this.  I just used a small teapot with a built in infuser to brew it.  1 kg cost me $4 Cdn at a local supermarket.

Phew.  Too much yerba mate though will make you feel very very lightheaded.  My friend J. describes the feeling to akin to being high.  I think I need to go lie down.

I just wanted to add the Bali’s Best Tea Candy that I got from the CRFA show was really really good.  I tried the classic iced tea, the green tea latte and the citrus green tea.  The classic iced tea was my favourite.  It’s a great little candy to pop when you need something to pick you up.

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Tea Battle #1 – Pukka Detox Tea VS Traditional Medicinals Roasted Dandelion Root Tea Review

pukka detox tea

I’m a huge fan of both Pukka teas and Traditional Medicinals. They’re both well known companies with lots of research backing each of their products. Traditional Medicinals boasts using medicinal quality herbs. Pukka, from the UK, on the other hand actually launched a supplement line. I decided to try the Pukka detox tea and see how it would compare to a Traditional Medicinals Roasted Dandelion Tea in taste, quality and overall effacicy for this tea battle numero uno.

Round #1 – Ingredients, packaging and price

Pukka – Aniseed seed, Fennel seed, Cardamom seed, Coriander seed, Licorice, Celery seed
Traditional Medicinals – Roasted danelion root (1500 mg)

These teas are both organic and tisane, meaning they’re caffeine free, bonus points in my book.  The teas are both around the same price around $4.99 – $5.99 depending on where you get it.  16 in a box for TM and 20 in a box for Pukka.  In terms of packaging and packaging I have to say Pukka wins on this one. The trendy white box with their signature print all over it clearly states what this tea is for, detox.  The TM box on the other hand tells you what dandelion root is for only on the side of the box, if you can find it (increasing appetite and bile flow i.e. helps your liver function).  More ingredients does not necessarily mean better, especially when TM states the mg dosage you are getting from the herb.  However, because Pukka stated right off the bat what their tea is for I have to declare the winner of round 1 – pukka.

Round 2 – Smell and color

Okay the Pukka tea smells gross! If someone made the casear into a tea this is what it would smell like. It actually smells salty, with a bit of pepper. I think it’s the smell of the celery seeds that is really affecting me. Gross! I can actually imagine tomatoes swimming in my tea now. The color is a nice light yellow. The TM roasted dandelion tea on the other hand smells awesome. The smell is nice and light, the nice roasted honey notes really come through on the nose.  Love it.  The colorr is a deep browish yellow.  Winner TM!

Round 3 – Taste

Okay this was over even before it began, Traditional Medicinals clearly is the winner for taste.  If smell is any indication of taste, in which case it is in many times with tea, TM won.  The TM tea was sweet and not bitter at all.  The pukka tea as I predicted tasted like a warm casear.  I gave my Pukka detox teas away to a lucky reader already.  Overall, I would buy TM again if I wanted to use it for liver detoxification.  The Pukka tea does help with other functions though, aniseed and fennel seed help to relax digestion and flush the urinary system, cardamom seeds can help to clear excess mucus, coriander and celery seed help to wash toxins from the body, and licorice root is calming and tonifying.  So if you want  more of a full body detox and you don’t mind the taste of a warm casear, go for Pukka.

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