REVIEW: Guayaki San Mateo Maté

As you may know by now, I love my maté. I’ve been drinking Guayaki and Pixie maté for a few years now, and it’s made me a happy camper. So, despite my dislike of mass-emailed press releases, when I got a press release about Guayaki’s new San Mateo maté, I actually read it.

I was intrigued enough by the canned PR copy that I went ahead and requested samples from the company. Here’s what the press release had to say about the San Mateo maté:

Guayaki’s new San Mateo blend is crafted in the Brazilian style by using an air dried, smoke-free drying process that yields a bright and lively herbal flavor and a clean finish.

Um, okay. But is it good? The morning after my sample arrived, I brewed my morning French press of maté, and DAMN is it good. The whole “bright and lively” thing is quite true. While I’ve heard some people complain that the traditional maté tastes like dried hay, the San Mateo maté doesn’t have any of those undertones in its flavor. It’s a lot cleaner tasting than the traditional maté from Guayaki, which is smoke-dried and aged, but it’s not quite as clean and light as Pixie’s traditional version. It’s sort of a nice middle-of-the-road maté.

I did notice that the San Mateo requires a little more sweetener in it (I use raw agave nectar). I’m not sure why, since I didn’t notice any particularly strong taste when I tried the San Mateo without sweetening it. But I asked Ted if he noticed the same thing, and my observation was confirmed. So, if you’d like to try Guayaki’s new San Mateo maté, just have some agave nectar on hand, and you’ll be good to go.

My local Whole Foods sells Guayaki’s San Mateo maté, but I haven’t checked to see whether or not it’s in my favorite co-op yet. If you can’t find a store in your area that carries this maté, you can order a 1-pound bag from Guayaki’s web site. Happy drinking, and let me know what you think!