Honest Tea Sublime Mate

Sublime Mate is the best-seller of Honest Tea's collection of bottled, ready-to-drink yerba mates. Its balanced, invigorating flavor appeals to new and veteran mate drinkers alike, and is a great pick-me-up for warm afternoons.

As usual, Honest Tea has succeeded in creating enticing packaging. A strong color scheme catches the eye, while a wealth of informative details (such as the factoid that a serving has 1/6th the amount of caffeine in coffee, or 16.3 mg per serving) help new yerba mate drinkers understand what this product is all about.

I'll admit that the appearance of the brew itself is not as appealing as the packaging. Its murky beige color may be daunting to new mate drinks, but fear not! It normal for yerba mate. If you have any lingering concerns after you crack open a bottle, just take a sniff -- the sweet, summery scents of lime and ginger will be enough to win you over.

Yerba mate can be tricky to brew and blend properly. Brew it too strong and you end up with a bitter mess. Add to much sugar or flavor and the depth of the mate is lost. Kudos to Honest Tea for creating Sublime Mate, a blend that balances tart lime, piquant ginger, bittersweet mate and sweet cane sugar without letting any one flavor dominate too much.

Like the flavor, the puckery, earthy, roasty aftertaste is something novice and seasoned yerba mate drinkers will enjoy.

This balanced blend is uplifting in terms of both flavor and body effect. Whether you're new to mate or not, it's a great choice, especially during warm weather.

Disclosure: Review samples were provided by the manufacturer. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.