Aviva Yerba Mate Newsletter and San Francisco Updates

Thanks for the shoutout Aviva!

So as you can see on my Calender of Events I’m in San Francisco!  So I won’t be able to update the website as a frequent as I like and because the time zones are different, it might show up a day later.  A few highlights over the past few days.  Aviva Yerba Mate was kind enough to include my website and tea reviews in their latest newsletter.  Click above for a larger resolution image.

Today was Earth Day and I was lucky enough to be at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco.  I have always wanted to go their ever since they opened as they have an indoor rainforest amongst many other cool things!  The restaurants and cafes inside served Mighty Leaf Tea, so that was pretty cool spotting them!  I also spotted Harney and Sons at the Starbucks in the Barnes and Noble today.  It got cold fast so we weren’t able to go to the tea garden, but hopefully Friday!

10 more days till the World Tea Expo!

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Aviva Traditional Loose Yerba Mate Tea Review

A big momma yerba mate leaf amongst tinier babies.

I realized that a lot of people don’t know that they can click on my thumbnails to expand the images into a larger size, so I am going to start posting images in larger thumbnails!

Today is the last day of Aviva yerba mate week and I’m finishing with their loose yerba mate.  It’s getting pretty late as I’m doing this review, but I still have a lot of work to do so I don’t mind the extra energy boost that I’m going to get from this tea. 

The ingredients in this tea are 100% pure wild harvest grown yerba mate, meaning without pesticides or chemicals.  Hm I wonder why they don’t promote it as organic instead?  I steeped about 2 teaspoons to 250ml of water.  If you like your yerba mate stronger, add more.  The liquor turned a brilliant golden green and the aromas of yerba mate starting wafting in my room.  This tea was very crisp and clean.  It left a nice taste in my mouth.  The body was light and refreshing.  This tea would be excellent iced with some fresh fruit, lemons or limes and agave nectar.  If you look closely at the image, or click on it, you will notice that there are no twigs only leaves in this tea.  Some yerba mate companies use twigs along with the leaves altering the taste of the tea.  Without the sticks, stem and powder you get a more authentic yerba mate flavour.  This yerba mate also isn’t as smoky as other brands I’ve had.  So if you like a cleaner yerba mate, with a light body and still gives you a good energy boost, then this tea is for you!

I also want to note that Aviva is a Fair Trade tea company, so you can be happy that your cup of tea is helping farmers get better wages.

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Aviva Lemon Myrtle Yerba Mate Tea Review

The ingredients of Aviva‘s Lemon Myrtle Yerba mate are wild harvest grown yerba mate and lemon myrtle.

lemon rinds boiled into a tea

The liquor is a dark green with a hint of gold undertones.  I steeped at just below boiling water for 6-8 minutes.  The tea smells strongly of lemon.  The smell actually is a lot like a dish detergent!  On wiki it says that lemon myrtle essential oil is a popular additive to cleaning products which explains the association.

This tea is astringent at first sip because of the lemon myrtle.  The body is very much medium to heavy in nature.  The lemon is coming off very strong in the tea.  The taste is akin to drinking the rind of a lemon.  A sour taste with a tingling feeling in your entire mouth after wards.  I feel as if someone threw in a whole lemon into my yerba mate, that’s how strong this taste is!  This yerba mate would make an excellent substitute for real lemons in tea because it comes so close to tasting like the lemon rinds.  You can easily make this into an iced tea in the summer with maple syrup or some blue agave nectar!

Overall, if you like a very strong and lemony tea that tastes like the real thing, then this is the tea for you.

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Aviva Ginger Peach Yerba Mate Tea Review and The Health Benefits of Yerba Mate

No twigs, just leaves!

Today is Day 3 of Aviva Yerba Mate week. Today I will be reviewing their Ginger Peach Yerba Mate. The ingredients are wild harvest grown yerba mate, black tea, bits of ginger and peach. The dried teabag smelt faintly of apricots, yum! You could smell the black tea with the peach barely coming through because the mate, again, is so strong. The taste is nice and crisp, a little bit spicy like their Chai mate.  This is definitely a great tea for energy boosting because it’s mate mixed with black tea.

The health benefits of yerba mate are numerous, there are always new studies coming out.  A few of the benefits of mate from Wiki and the Yerba Mate Association.

• Studies are showing yerba mate to exhibit significant cancer-fighting activity.  Researchers at the University of Illinois (2005) found yerba mate to be “rich in phenolic constituents” and to “inhibit oral cancer cell proliferation” while it promoted proliferation of oral cancer cell lines at certain concentrations.
• Some users report a mental state of wakefulness, focus and alertness reminiscent of most stimulants, but often remark on mate’s unique lack of the negative effects typically created by other such compounds, such as anxiety, “jitteriness”, and heart palpitations.
• Mate contains contains elements such as potassium, magnesium and manganese
• 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.  When studying the role that saponins have within plants, it was been discovered that saponins are the plants’ active immune system and that they function as a “natural antibiotic.”
• Yerba mate can reduce the severity of some allergies and hay fever.  A recent study by Linda Rector Page, N.D., Ph.D., notes that yerba mate is helpful for opening respiratory passages to overcome allergy symptoms.  Yerba mate works by stimulating the adrenal glands to produce corticosteroids, which help suppress the inflammation and immune response due to allergies.
• Yerba mate quickens the mind and increases alertness and acuity. Yerba mate also provides sustained-release energy due to its complex combination of xanthine alkaloids, (including caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline) and nutritional support (including B vitamins and chromium).
• For many years now, physicians in Europe have been incorporating yerba mate in treatments for obesity. Heat production is a normal part of metabolism, and yerba mate stimulates this process, thereby increasing the body’s metabolic rate and the burning of stored fat.  Before the fat can be burned, it needs to be broken down into smaller particles.  The xanthines in yerba mate have properties that help break down fat through a process called lipolysis.
• A study conducted by Gugliucci and published in Biochemical Molecular Biology International (1995) claims low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad cholesterol”) oxidation is inhibited by extracts of yerba mate. Oxidation of LDL is considered to be the initiating factor to the onset of atherosclerosis (thickening and hardening of the arteries).

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Aviva Chai Yerba Mate Tea Review and Celestials Seasonings Giveaway

Aviva Yerba Mate Review Week Day 2.  I’m going to be reviewing Aviva’s Chai Yerba Mate tea today because I need to warm up and I think a tea would spices is just what I need.  Last week it was so sunny and hot that I was wearing a t-shirt outside, now fast forward to this morning.  When I woke up, I saw SNOW.  It’s APRIL!  Come on!  As I’m typing this review, there is about 2 inches of snow on the ground and the flurries are coming down hard. ;(

Look my cup is almost empty!

The ingredients of this tea are wild harvest grown yerba mate, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves and black pepper.  Yerba mate is hard to use as a base in teas because it’s so overpowering, you really have to use a lot of flavouring, herbs and spices to counteract the mate.  It is definitely a difficult base to blend with.  The aroma and flavor of the yerba mate a very potent, there is only a slight spiciness that comes through with this tea. It really helped warm me up!  I’m also getting a caffeine type rush though from the tea, phew.  I think this tea missed it’s mark as a chai, but if you like a strong mate with a hint of spiciness or you’re just drinking it for the numerous health benefits then this tea for you.  It’s also on sale right now; $18 US will get you about 207-214 teabags!

To enter follow me on Twitter or comment on my blog for the month of April until the 20th.

I’m very excited to announce Rocking the Republic’s first tea giveaway.  I hope to give away many more teas in the future from various tea companies.  For the month of April, Celestial Seasonings and I are partnering to do a giveaway.  The winner will be drawn on April 20th 30th 2009 before I leave for the World Tea Expo.  To enter please start following me on twitter or comment in the month of April on my blog on or before the 20th 30th.  And the contest is open to anyone and everyone.  The mystery tea gift package will be mailed out after I draw the winner!

Good luck everyone!

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