Tropical Mate is one of Honest Tea's new organic yerba mates. While it's a good blend, it's not as enjoyable (or as popular) as Honest tea's Sublime Mate, in part because of its heavy aftertaste.
UPDATE -- Tropical Mate was discontinued in April, 2011.
UPDATE -- Tropical Mate was discontinued in April, 2011.
Packaging
Honest Tea's clean-yet-warm package design for Tropical Mate is enticing, and 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.
Appearance
Whereas Sublime Mate has a typical yerba mate appearance (murky, beige and relatively unappealing), Tropical Mate has an attractive orange undertone.
Aroma & Flavor
The aroma and flavor of Tropical Mate are both fantastic. The aroma is fantastic, like fresh, ripe mangoes. The taste is simple and clean. It's more than "a tad sweet" (as the label claims), but it's not nearly as syrupy as your typical ready-to-drink tea.
Aftertaste
Unfortunately, the aftertaste of this blend falls short. It's heavy and it's seriously bittersweet, even for a yerba mate. If it weren't for the aftertaste, I probably would have ranked Tropical Mate on par with Sublime Mate.
Disclosure: Review samples were provided by the manufacturer. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
