The Good: Caffeinated, Decent aroma, Can be made strong enough to have flavor/mint flavor is good
The Bad: Exceptionally weak flavor, Tea bag garbage
The Basics: Tazo “Cocoa Mint Mate” tea is another underwhelming tea for those who claim to want flavor, but don’t actually want it!
I do not go out of my way to find food and drink products that I do not think that I will enjoy. That said, when I find a Tazo tea flavor that sounds intriguing to me, I have a tendency to pick it up if it is on clearance or a good sale, despite the fact that Tazo has never once impressed me with its products. I feel like I should want to like Tazo, but the truth is that for anyone who wants flavorful teas and has had a wide selection of flavorful teas from Celestial Seasonings, Stash, or just loose leaf, Tazo is consistently underwhelming. Such is how it is with Tazo Cocoa Mint Mate tea.
Tazo is a new age type tea company that is trying to appeal to those who drink tea for health, wellness and balance as opposed to just someone looking for a hot drink. In recent years, they have synergized with Starbucks and created more trendy flavors that might appeal to Starbucks patrons and the results have been unimpressive. Tazo’s Cocoa Mint Mate seems like it might have been designed to appeal to that crowd, but as one who loves flavorful coffee, I can say with some authority that they fell short.
Basics
Tazo Cocoa Mint Mate is a caffeinated yerba mate tea from Tazo, a tea company in Seattle, Washington. The tea comes individually wrapped in the box of sixteen bags, each tea bag with its own string and paper tab, much like the classic Lipton look. For a company selling itself on responsibility to mind and body, one might find this ironic; why they did not mimic Celestial Seasonings' stringless bags in tribute to the environment is disappointing. The sixteen bag box is generally found in the same price range as Celestial Seasonings tea and the stark contrast in boxes makes for an easy visual distinction (Tazo boxes are monolithically white).
Cocoa Mint Mate is a mate tea that is supposed to have flavors of mint and chocolate, but it is so weak, the best it gets is the aftertaste of mint.
Ease Of Preparation
Cocoa Mint Mate is supposed to be easy to prepare, but after five pots, I’ve discovered it took a real learning curve and this was a disproportionately expensive tea to prepare well. No, the basics are as simple as making tea: the Cocoa Mint Mate requires one to open the box, remove the paper-wrapped tea bag, unwrap that, unwind the string from around the tea bag and then set it into the teapot. That part is easy.
The reason making Cocoa Mint Mate tea is more difficult than all that is simple: this is an incredibly weak tea when one follows the directions! I followed the directions and brought my filtered water to a boil, poured 8 oz. of it over my tea bags and let it steep for five minutes (or more!). The result was still a weak pot of tea. For my 24 oz. steeping pot, four bags should have sufficed, but I only managed to get a decent pot when I upped the bags to six. That made for a palatable brew, but it took the number of servings I could get out of a box down from four to two . . . and a lousy pot!
Taste
Cocoa Mint Mate Tea smells good enough. There is a faint mint scent to it, but the dominant aroma is more subtle and tea-like. Much like cocoa blocks at a candy manufacturer’s, Cocoa Mint Mate has the mild scent of cocoa, unsweetened and . . . it would be bold if the tea were more aromatic.
On the taste front, the Cocoa Mint Mate tea is bland. Made at regular strength, this is barely flavored water with an aftertaste of spearmint. Made at full strength, it is a dry beverage with a full spearmint kick. The tea never seems to gain a fully flavorful taste that would embody cocoa, chocolate, or any other more potent beverage.
Adulterated by sugar, Cocoa Mint Mate is sweeter, but not more flavorful in any sort of compelling way.
Nutrition
The ingredients to Cocoa Mint Mate tea are fairly simple. The Cocoa Mint Mate is composed primarily of cocoa peels, yerba mate, and peppermint.
In terms of nutrition, this tea is devoid of it. One 8 oz. mug of this tea provides nothing of nutritional value to the drinker. There are no calories (save what one adds from sugar), no fat, sodium, or protein, but there are between one and fifteen mg of caffeine. Cocoa Mint Mate (tea) will not keep one alive or healthy. Cocoa Mint Mate tea is Kosher for those who keep Kosher.
Storage/Clean-up
Because of the various layers of packaging, Cocoa Mint Mate appears to stay fresh for quite some time. So long as it is kept dry, this tea has a decent shelf life. The box we bought last month had an expiration date of December 4, 2014. As far as cleaning up, one need only rinse out the steeping pot or mug to prevent it from staining. The tea bags may be tossed easily enough. For those - like me - who compost their old tea bags, it is important to remove the staple and string with the little paper tab before composting this. That's an annoying extra step, especially after years of brewing Republic Of Tea and Celestial Seasonings teas!
As for the tea itself, this is a surprisingly dark brown tea and it will stain fabrics, so it is highly recommended if one actually gets this tea on clothing, clean up any spills promptly.
Overall
Tazo Cocoa Mint Mate tea is too weak to be worthwhile and too expensive for what it is when it is brewed to be potent enough.
For other Tazo tea reviews, please visit my reviews of:
Zen tea
Awake
Earl Grey
3.5/10
For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
The Good: Caffeinated, Decent aroma, Can be made strong enough to have flavor/mint flavor is good
The Bad: Exceptionally weak flavor, Tea bag garbage
The Basics: Tazo “Cocoa Mint Mate” tea is another underwhelming tea for those who claim to want flavor, but don’t actually want it!
I do not go out of my way to find food and drink products that I do not think that I will enjoy. That said, when I find a Tazo tea flavor that sounds intriguing to me, I have a tendency to pick it up if it is on clearance or a good sale, despite the fact that Tazo has never once impressed me with its products. I feel like I should want to like Tazo, but the truth is that for anyone who wants flavorful teas and has had a wide selection of flavorful teas from Celestial Seasonings, Stash, or just loose leaf, Tazo is consistently underwhelming. Such is how it is with Tazo Cocoa Mint Mate tea.
Tazo is a new age type tea company that is trying to appeal to those who drink tea for health, wellness and balance as opposed to just someone looking for a hot drink. In recent years, they have synergized with Starbucks and created more trendy flavors that might appeal to Starbucks patrons and the results have been unimpressive. Tazo’s Cocoa Mint Mate seems like it might have been designed to appeal to that crowd, but as one who loves flavorful coffee, I can say with some authority that they fell short.
Basics
Tazo Cocoa Mint Mate is a caffeinated yerba mate tea from Tazo, a tea company in Seattle, Washington. The tea comes individually wrapped in the box of sixteen bags, each tea bag with its own string and paper tab, much like the classic Lipton look. For a company selling itself on responsibility to mind and body, one might find this ironic; why they did not mimic Celestial Seasonings' stringless bags in tribute to the environment is disappointing. The sixteen bag box is generally found in the same price range as Celestial Seasonings tea and the stark contrast in boxes makes for an easy visual distinction (Tazo boxes are monolithically white).
Cocoa Mint Mate is a mate tea that is supposed to have flavors of mint and chocolate, but it is so weak, the best it gets is the aftertaste of mint.
Ease Of Preparation
Cocoa Mint Mate is supposed to be easy to prepare, but after five pots, I’ve discovered it took a real learning curve and this was a disproportionately expensive tea to prepare well. No, the basics are as simple as making tea: the Cocoa Mint Mate requires one to open the box, remove the paper-wrapped tea bag, unwrap that, unwind the string from around the tea bag and then set it into the teapot. That part is easy.
The reason making Cocoa Mint Mate tea is more difficult than all that is simple: this is an incredibly weak tea when one follows the directions! I followed the directions and brought my filtered water to a boil, poured 8 oz. of it over my tea bags and let it steep for five minutes (or more!). The result was still a weak pot of tea. For my 24 oz. steeping pot, four bags should have sufficed, but I only managed to get a decent pot when I upped the bags to six. That made for a palatable brew, but it took the number of servings I could get out of a box down from four to two . . . and a lousy pot!
Taste
Cocoa Mint Mate Tea smells good enough. There is a faint mint scent to it, but the dominant aroma is more subtle and tea-like. Much like cocoa blocks at a candy manufacturer’s, Cocoa Mint Mate has the mild scent of cocoa, unsweetened and . . . it would be bold if the tea were more aromatic.
On the taste front, the Cocoa Mint Mate tea is bland. Made at regular strength, this is barely flavored water with an aftertaste of spearmint. Made at full strength, it is a dry beverage with a full spearmint kick. The tea never seems to gain a fully flavorful taste that would embody cocoa, chocolate, or any other more potent beverage.
Adulterated by sugar, Cocoa Mint Mate is sweeter, but not more flavorful in any sort of compelling way.
Nutrition
The ingredients to Cocoa Mint Mate tea are fairly simple. The Cocoa Mint Mate is composed primarily of cocoa peels, yerba mate, and peppermint.
In terms of nutrition, this tea is devoid of it. One 8 oz. mug of this tea provides nothing of nutritional value to the drinker. There are no calories (save what one adds from sugar), no fat, sodium, or protein, but there are between one and fifteen mg of caffeine. Cocoa Mint Mate (tea) will not keep one alive or healthy. Cocoa Mint Mate tea is Kosher for those who keep Kosher.
Storage/Clean-up
Because of the various layers of packaging, Cocoa Mint Mate appears to stay fresh for quite some time. So long as it is kept dry, this tea has a decent shelf life. The box we bought last month had an expiration date of December 4, 2014. As far as cleaning up, one need only rinse out the steeping pot or mug to prevent it from staining. The tea bags may be tossed easily enough. For those - like me - who compost their old tea bags, it is important to remove the staple and string with the little paper tab before composting this. That's an annoying extra step, especially after years of brewing Republic Of Tea and Celestial Seasonings teas!
As for the tea itself, this is a surprisingly dark brown tea and it will stain fabrics, so it is highly recommended if one actually gets this tea on clothing, clean up any spills promptly.
Overall
Tazo Cocoa Mint Mate tea is too weak to be worthwhile and too expensive for what it is when it is brewed to be potent enough.
For other Tazo tea reviews, please visit my reviews of:
Zen tea
Awake
Earl Grey
3.5/10
For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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