Pixie Mate (by Third Street): Yerba Mate Tea Latte (Liquid Concentrate 1:1)

What is Yerba Maté? The people of the South American rain forest discovered the magic before we did. And from their treasured green leaves has emerged the tea that sings. Maté is the gentle hum of an awakened mind and a vibrant body. It is an energy that is balanced, not frantic. With a llama-load of antioxidants, maté trickles, grinning, into your system. It won't leave you drooping or demand addiction. Drink deep; you're safe here! Pixie Maté is micro-brewed by Third Street with pure Rocky Mountain water. 

Ingredients: Filtered Water, Cane Sugar, Yerba Mate, Organic Black Tea, Cardamom, Ginger, Vanilla Extract, Clove, Black Pepper, Allspice, Cinnamon, Citric Acid.

Attributes: Certified Kosher & Gluten Free, Non-GMO Verified, Wind Powered Operation, Non-dairy.

Format: Liquid Concentrate 1:1 ratio

Preparation: Shake well, add equal amounts of concentrate with milk or milk substitute.

Additional information: Third Street Chai is brewed authentically, under the watchful eyes and hands of our in-house brewmasters. After blending and milling our freshly delivered, whole spices by hand, each batch of spices is swiftly settled into custom kettles, designed in accordance with the ideals of tradition, consistency and purity in mind. The freshly milled spices are coaxed to release their richest attributes, and the chai is brewed and finished to a perfect pitch – not too sweet, not too spicy, but a gentle and steady balance between every flavor we love.

TASTE-O-METER Rating:

"Pixie Maté's "Maté Chai Latte" concentrate is a solid, strong microbrew. First, it adds the stronger taste of Yerba Maté, an herb from South America which has been made into a tea sort of beverage for centuries, and which has a reputation to increasing wakefulness (like coffee, except without the jitters or the crash). Some claim that Yerba Mate has "no caffeine" but in fact, it does have Matein, a stereoisomer of caffeine. In any case, regardless of it's similarities and differences with the standard form of caffeine, Yerba Maté has an amount of this less than brewed coffee, probably closer to that of black tea.

In addition to Yerba Maté, the spices in this concentrate are jacked up a fairly high degree, but not over the top. The flavor that seems to predominate is a clear yet mellow cloves flavoring, made complex with the addition of other balancing spices. While it is not "unsweet" by any means, sweetness is definitely NOT the principle taste. Rather it seems to balance and eliminate the inherent bitterness of Yerba Maté. The result is a full bodied, complex flavor, with a "softened clove" taste as the single most identifiable element. The chai's heartiness is echoed by a slightly darker than normal color that it exhibits when mixed with milk."

--Troy, the chai-tasting guy