Maté Teas - The Adagio/Teavana Debate

[KellyM]

I learned about adagio.com years before I ever saw Teavana. However, Teavana was truly my first whole-leaf tea experience.

I started teaching and as I woke up early each and every day I started to drink coffee. More specifically I should say I started to drink sugar with a lot of milk and a little taste of coffee. It was ridiculously unhealthy and only gave me enough energy to last maybe through first and half of second bell.

I visited Teavana and started to try their Maté teas. Right now I have some of the "My Morning Maté" in my pantry... along with the Adagio Maté Sampler.

The Adagio Spiced Maté wasn't bad. I actually enjoyed the fragrance, it reminded me of the holidays. The flavor was also good, until I got to the last few sips and started to notice a strange undertone. I'll have to try it again.
Meanwhile, I tried the Mocha Nut Maté and almost had to throw it away I have a friend who is new to whole-leaf tea and I passed it off to her to try... there is no way I can drink it.

I'm a little nervous to try the other Adagio Matés - in fact I was apprehensive about ordering them from the start because of the "hints of tobacco and grass" in the flavor profile. But what I'm liking about Adagio is that it is much more affordable than Teavana. Even going to the Teavana storefront in my local mall, the tea is very expensive.

What are other people's take on Adagio Maté vs. Teavana Maté? I don't know enough about these teas to know what makes the two so dramatically different... but Teavana's Maté teas I find have a richer, creamier, more coffee-like taste/texture. They even look 100% different.

Would love to hear what others have to say. Thanks

[TwoPynts]

I've had the Mocha Nut and Citrus Mate so far, and have to say that I'm not overly impressed with the flavor. I will drink them for their "medicinal value" but will not order them again. In fact, I've yet to try a mate that made me want to have more. I was hoping Adagio's would be different. I suppose I am just not a mate person. I have not had Teavana's so can't comment on them.

Perhaps I will have better luck with the Toasted and Spiced Mates.

[morningbus]

I'm a big yerba mate drinker (at least 2 cups a day, everyday) and while Adagio's sampler was good, it wasn't the best I've had. Teavana, on the other hand, can have some tasty blends, but they often load in a lot of extraneous fillers to pad out the tea. Coupled with their already high prices, the value proposition is just totally out of whack.

As for the differences between Adagio's and Teavana's yerba mates: Adagio is selling a few different varieties of mate, which are processed in 1 of 2 ways. The plain yerba mate, citrus mate, and mango mate all use "green" yerba mate, which can be as minimally processed as only being allowed to dry, or as processed as being smoked. Minimally processed yerba mate is more popular in Brazil. Smoked is more popular in Argentina.

Adagio's toasted mate, spiced mate, and mocha nut mate all use "toasted" or "roasted" mate. I believe the difference between the terms "toasted" and "roasted" is just marketing, but I'd argue that "roasted" is probably the more apt descriptor. Roasted mate is cooked in a similar way to black tea to achieve a dark brown or sometimes black color. The effect is that roasted mate takes on notes of chocolate, instead of green mate's herb-y flavor.

Teavana uses roasted mate in its My Morning Mate and Matevana blends, so it is fair to compare those two to Adagio's toasted, spiced and mocha nut flavors. Teavana uses green mate in its Raspberry Lemon Riot blend and used to offer green mate at its stores. It isn't really fair to compare the Raspberry lemon riot blend as there is very little yerba mate in the mix.

Anyway:

My go-to green yerba mate is Mate Factor (http://matefactor.com). It isn't processed in the same way as Adagio's plain mate, which is something closer to an Argentinian style (though it is apparently produced in Brazil). The cut of the tea is also very different.

My go-to roasted/toasted yerba mate is from Upton Tea (http://uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?f ... temID=BH22).

[Sydney]

I'm a traditionalist, down to the gourd. But this topic prompted me to order the Adagio sampler so I could speak to it in the future.

[KellyM]

Thanks for the feedback

I've been sticking to My Morning Maté from Teavana recently, only because right now I have too many (is that possible?) samplers from Adagio open and am running out of room in my pantry.
I liked the flavor of the Spiced Maté, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that there are at least a few others in the mix that don't disagree with my taste buds.

[tommetomtom]

I too am an avid Mate drinker. I drink it every day. The difference between Adagio and Teavana in general are the prices. Adagio typically prices all the teas on the low side. With that comes drawbacks. They are not the most popular online tea retailer because of their teas. They are the most popular because their prices are very attractive and their online marketing is A+.

Teavanna has some amazing teas but yes they are extremely exspensive. It costs a lot of money to have stores in every mall.

I also read from Adagios blog that in the past they did not carry Yerba Mate because they themselves do not like it and they do not sell anything that they do not drink. I guess they gave in to the rise in popularity and saw the money potential. Given this alone tells me that they wouldn't be the best in coming up with great tasting mate.

I personally get all my Mate from Fusion Tea Room. They deal strickly in herbals so it is their expertise so to speak. Plus they have the biggest selection I have found on the internet. www.fusiontearoom.com Their prices are very reasonable as well. Hope this sheds a little light

[ninavampi]

I have to agree that Teavana's Mate blends are spectacular. I have only tried Adagio's mango mate, while I didn't love it, I did enjoy it. The best creamy mate blends are Teavana's.

Adagios vanilla black is really smooth. I always enjoy it. It is a good caffeinated option if you want something smooth with caffeine in the morning! I love mixing it with mint to get a creamy candy cane like sensation!

[greentam]

I've liked hearing everyone's input because I've only tried one mate. I had the cocoa mate from adagio and feel it was ok. I don't think I would drink it everyday. But it's a nice tea to have on hand for those special days of mate drinking! I don't know if I'll buy any Teavana tea after my first one. The price is just insane for how little tea I got from them. The tea was most filler. I'm very glad I had ordered it during the free shipping deal recently.

[ninavampi]

Yeah... Sad but true... The prices are waaaay toooo high for what you get. I also got my tea from them on sale. I do like it, but I don't know if I like it enough to pay sooooo much for it....

There is plenty of really good tea for cheaper, but once in a while I will splurge if something seems worth trying...

[CasualConnoisseur]

I get my mate (when I drink it; I don't go through that much) from my local co-op, which sells some bulk teas. I'm not too picky with my mate because I usually drink it sweetend and with a shot of lemon or grapefruit juice. It's cheaper than the Teavana teas (by a looooong shot) and more convenient than the Adagio teas because I don't need to pay shipping.

[AlexZorach]

I have not tried any Adagio mates; I've also never tried a pure Yerba mate from Teavana, but I've been relatively unimpressed by Teavana's blends that include mate.

Teavana, in my opinion, excels at fruit blends. I like drinking mate straight, and I find it doesn't blend very well with fruit or spices, at least to my palate. It's not that the tastes clash, but it's more that it's already a little sweet and spicy, so the characteristics of the mate get lost in the blend.

My favorite roasted mate is from mate factor, but I don't like their green stuff. My favorite green stuff is from Upton Tea Imports. All of them are pure (not blends with other herbs), and I drink them straight.

[loyolalipton]

Awesome thread. I was wondering where there was a good place to buy yerba mate online. Matefactor looks great

[Poohblah]

Nice thread resurrection!

I agree with the suggestions for Mate Factor. I've been drinking that stuff for at least five or six years. I have a pound of it on my table right now I used to drink a lot of their Dark Roast blend, which is nice too. In the summers I mix cold-brew Dark Roast (or traditional green) with citrus juice (lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit) which is delicious. I could be mistaken but I think their dark roast doesn't contain any roasted mate, only other roasted herbs. I don't like the taste of straight roasted mate.

I suggest drinking mate as quickly as you can after opening the bag as it tends to go stale in 6 months or so.

[Vermont Cathy]

After reading suggestions here, I looked at the Mate Factor website. Good prices (though I'd have to buy a lot to get free shipping BECAUSE of their low prices, and they don't sell other kinds of tea). I googled mate factor to try and see if it is sold locally anywhere (so I wouldn't have to pay shipping) and found this article. Huh. I know it's old, but... thoughts?

http://iottc.blogspot.com/2009/03/why-w ... actor.html

[Poohblah]

I've been to two of their locations (Manitou Springs, CO and Boulder, CO). I used to spend a lot of time at the Manitou location.

They are very friendly people and hardly judgmental at all. Their community is tightly knit, and whatever beliefs they have as a result of being members of that community they tend to keep to themselves. They don't proselytize or evangelize or preach or anything like that. In my experience, whatever beliefs the founder of Twelve Tribes may have harbored do not translate necessarily into beliefs that the Twelve Tribes community at large holds.

I will continue to visit their brick-and-mortar stores for the good mate, friendly attitude, and lovely ambiance.