Guayaki Organic Yerba Mate (canned version)
I saw the bags of this stuff hundreds of times. It intrigued me. For one thing, the packaging is unique and vibrant. For another thing, IT COSTS LIKE A THOUSAND DOLLARS. I’m exaggerating of course. It costs between 11 and 15 dollars a bag. For those reasons, it seemed luxurious and I wanted some. I finally remembered to Google it when I got home from the store the other day. So, Yerba Mate is a plant native to South America and it is consumed as a tea. It contains caffeine. You can steep the loose tea or bags of tea. I identify as a rich person but currently, my desires aren’t aligned with my budget. So, when I noticed some canned Yerba Mate over in the energy drink section for 2 dollars, I said “yep, here’s my lane”.
The store was having a sale on these bad boys. I have a theory about sales: If a thing is on sale and a lot of that thing is sold out, whatever flavors that remain, are the nasty ones. The ones that are left are the ones no one wants. They are the Milky Ways in the bag of Halloween candy. The classic flavor was sold out so I didn’t buy anything that day. I went back another day and they were still on sale. So, I got the flavor that I thought would be the best of the worst; “Revel Berry”. I was able to get the “Sparkling Classic Gold” flavor on another trip.
Revel Berry
The pros: It smells so good. Nice, light taste. Black tea tends to give me a headache. This didn’t. It was just so pleasant and lovely. I enjoyed it. I was very sleepy when I popped the can open and I only drank half of it and perked right up. I don’t particularly care for hibiscus, but in this, I can taste it and it really adds something great. It made me appreciate hibiscus. I enjoyed this.
The cons: I don’t have a con but if I was being really picky I could say that the flavor isn’t full bodied and there’s a lot of added sugar.
Would I buy this again: Yes, but not very often. Maybe twice or thrice a month.
Revel Berry
Sparkling Classic Gold
Classic Gold
The pros: Also smells great. You can taste the lime, tamarind, and ginger very much and it has a refreshing taste that’s nice for the first 5 sips. This shit works. The energy is not like a bolt, it’s more like “okay- I’m awake". It made 3 AM feel like 5 PM.
The cons: This shit WORKS. Drinking this at 10:00 at night was one of the dumbest decisions I’ve made in my life. This flavor has a lower caffeine level than the Revel Berry (per can) but I drank the whole can. I was up until 6:30AM. It tastes like you left the top off of a bottle of Sprite, left the Sprite on the counter for 20 mins, and then poured the Sprite into a cup of herbal tea. This officially leads me to believe that Yerba Mate has a very, very mild flavor because I’m still not sure what it actually tastes like. Also, the sugar thing again.
Would I buy this again: No. It’s not a pleasant drinking experience. It’s not disgusting but after a few sips it’s like- “eh that’s enough”. I went through so much to buy this and surprise surprise- I liked the Revel Berry flavor better! I may have to rethink my theory, eh?
Let me know if you’ve seen it, tried it, etc…