Today's Tea: Honeydew Maté

Honeydew Maté from DAVIDsTEA

Description: Whether you’re looking for a pick-me-up or just a great tasting drink, steeping a cup of this tea is one of the smartest things you can do. For starters, it’s got green yerba maté, for a smooth-drinking, all-natural energy boost. Then it has green rooibos, which is packed with so much good stuff, it’s even better for you than regular rooibos. And on top of it all, it’s got the fresh, juicy taste of honeydew melon. Energizing, healthy AND delicious? This one’s a no brainer.

Ingredients: Green rooibos, green yerba maté, white hibiscus blossoms, melon pieces, natural flavouring

How to Brew: 1.25 tsp 98°C/208°F 4-7 min

(From DAVIDsTEA: Honeydew Maté)

Steph's Thoughts:

This was not my first time having this tea, but I had a craving for it this morning (which is odd, normally I crave chocolate or coffee teas), so I brewed myself a cup.

The dry leaves give off a fruity smell. It smells "green," very much like a green honeydew melon.

When brewed, it is a nice clear amber; at first it has a green tinge, but it's a really lovely colour. Very nice and clear, too, not cloudy at all. It has a nice sweet taste, so no sugar is needed. It actually tastes like honeydew, which is my favourite melon, so there's a win there!

The brewed tea smells like "green tea". Not green as in green tea, but as in the colour green. It smells like green and growing and fresh melons and reminds me of all manner of green things.

I can taste the maté, but it's not bitter and overwhelming, like some matés can get. It's a nice, subtle, supporting flavour to the melon, which almost makes the melon that much sweeter.

I find that Honeydew Maté is steeped better at slightly cooler than 98. 90-94 is ideal, I think. It might just be the tannins in the yerba that make it bitter when it's brewed too hot.

I think Honeydew Maté would be good iced, but is also super for those days when you crave green and spring/summer but are stuck drinking a hot beverage because there is still four feet of snow on the ground outside your door, and it won't be melting anytime soon. (Can you tell what kind of weather we're having? Ugh. I AM SO DONE WITH SNOW.)

Verdict: Way Win!