I was browsing the beverages in Whole Foods today and came across Honest Tea’s Agave Mate (pronounced MAH-tay). Being familiar with the other uses for agave (hello! making tequila), I was immediately curious.
In the case of this tea, though, agave is not the base, its used as a sweetener. The main ingredient is the yerba mate. Unlike agave, I have no clue what yerba was used for!
After trying this beverage, though, I can say that agave and yerba mate come together to make some very good “tea”. It has a pleasant herbal flavor that’s somewhere between earthy and mildly spicy. The promise on the label – “just a tad sweet” – is absolutely correct. The tea has just the right balance of sweetness and spice.
While I paired the tea with Whole Food’s turkey sausage pizza, I could see this beverage going great with just about anything. Priced at $1.25 a bottle, its comparable to most of the other single server beverages in the WF cooler. I’ll be back for another sample of this and the other Honest Tea mates!
Good for tequila! Love that.