Ever wondered what would happen if you married two powerful herbs into one drink?
Well you’re about to experience the best of both worlds in today’s mate.
Jesper Con Te Verde is a yerba mate blended with green tea leaves. And is one of the few brands that produce this kind of blend. In fact, it’s the only one I’m aware of. But I’m sure there are others out there.
I’ve tried Jesper Traditional two years ago and it was, to say the least, a very underwhelming mate.
But after drinking this blend, comparing the two would be apples to oranges.
Jesper Con Te Verde is a completely different mate of its own. Naturally aged for 12 months and with the special help of its new friend, green tea, not only is this mate packed with additional antioxidants, but also flavor.
Let’s see what it’s all about…
Nose
Giving the orange-cream-colored bag a shake, Jesper Con Te Verde produces a sweet bouquet of graham crackers and pastries with a touch of grass. A pleasant aroma us materos should all be familiar with. No smell of green tea can be detected here.
Taste
The first sip of Jesper Con Te Verde surprised me. Going into it, I expected the green tea to be drowned out by the mate. But this does a great job balancing out the flavors to ensure one doesn’t overpower the other.
Starting out, yerba mate takes the stage. Notes of your typical soil and dirt are presented without any harsh bitterness or sharpness. But in the background, you can sense the other herb begin to show its colors. Like with classic green tea, you still experience that same grassy, herbaceous flavor in each sip which I found to be complementary to the taste of the mate. As you reach near the halfway point, there aren’t many changes except a light almond nuttiness starts to make an appearance. A citrusy hint of lemon can also be detected throughout the entire mate. Overall, this blend is very enjoyable. Bright, smooth, and clean notes keep your palate intrigued and satisfied.
I found this mate to do best in the 150-160ºF (66-71ºC) range if you really want the two herbs to coalesce beautifully. Too hot, and the green tea takes over. Too low, and neither of the two really shine.
Finish
On the finish is when the focus of green tea is strong in this blend. The astringency you would usually get from yerba mate is replaced with the astringency of green tea. The taste is also all green tea with its previous herbaceous and green notes continue to linger on the palate for at least a minute.
Body/Texture
Jesper Con Te Verde is a light-to-medium-bodied mate. At first, it feels watery. But as you progress into the mate, a slight chalky sensation develops as the green tea’s astringency builds up and some of the mate’s fine particles get through the bombilla. Unlike the astringency of most mates, this one is extremely dry and puckery to the point that if you don’t refresh your palate with water, it can start to feel sticky. For those who enjoy this type of astringency, you’re in for a treat.
Cut
Jesper Con Te Verde doesn’t look like your typical Argentinian mate, nor is it similar to its traditional blend. This mate features a Uruguayan-like cut with leaves that are of a fine-to-medium-sized cut. Stems are white, short, and stumpy. While dust pervades the entire bag and coats all the particles. Now, where’s the green tea?
If you look closely at the cut, you’ll find that it’s hard to make out your typical green tea leaves. What stands out and looks different though is there’s a lot of brown particles you don’t typically see in a traditional bag of mate. This leads me to believe that that is green tea, specifically, hojicha. Hojicha is a type of green tea that’s roasted which gives it that distinct reddish-brown color. The tea can be made of leaves, stems, and twigs, and that is clearly seen in this cut. Now I couldn’t find anything from Jesper to confirm this to be true, but it seems the most accurate. Strangely though, hojicha’s typical toasty, smokey flavors don’t show up in this blend. Only its nuttiness.
Cycle
Jesper Con Te Verde surprisingly features a long cycle. But not only that, its strength holds up well throughout the mate too. In a medium-sized gourd filled to about halfway, I can easily finish up to 3/4 to a full liter. The flavor of the mate doesn’t make any steep drops, but instead gradually dies down until the very last refill.
Effect
You would think since this mate is blended with green tea that it would double the stimulation. But in reality, it’s nothing crazy. Just a tad bit stronger.
Effects with Jesper Con Te Verde don’t appear suddenly. It takes a few gourdfuls to notice it start working. But once it does, you can feel an intense focus and concentration build up with a physical sensation around your eyes. A nice soothing feeling of calm and relaxation is also there to keep you on task. Energy-wise, it doesn’t make you want to get up and be active. But it does make you want to be productive. For less intense activities like reading or studying, a gourd of this will keep you in the right headspace for hours. Depending on your tolerance level, I would avoid drinking this past the afternoon.
Jesper Con Te Verde Review
As my first time trying a yerba mate/green tea blend, it was exactly what I would’ve expected – a classic taste of both herbs.
However, compared to Jesper’s traditional blend, this was a huge improvement.
More body, more flavor, and longer-lasting. My only complaint is the astringency is strong. But for a mate blended with green tea, it’s expected.
Jesper Con Te Verde is a good bag to have on you when you want to spice things up a little, or for green tea drinkers wanting to get into mate.
If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, grab a bag below:
PampaDirect (Worldwide)
Click Here To Get A 1000g / 1kg Bag
Un-Mate (Europe – 10% OFF Order)
Click Here To Get A 500g / 1lb Bag
P.S. If you enjoyed this review, you might also want to check out our store for new gourds and bombillas (free shipping).