Gift earlier this year from one of our customers who invested in Katú, a yerba mate company. Sipping on a can of this cold-brewed roasted yerba mate on 15 Oct 2025 that was best before 28 Feb 2025. It tastes exactly the same as when we received it. And it is so strong and so smokey I can’t finish it. It is absolutely overwhelming, as it was before, a real bruiser in taste and caffeine.
Comments from several coworkers in the office include:
“swamp water”,
“ash tray”,
“OMG WTF”,
“fuck no”,
“hm not bad”.
Mr. “hm not bad” eventually went back to the mini-fridge for another can but the stock has remained untouched since earlier this year. I should probably drain the cans today and make room for tastier things. Ugh, 3 sips and I feel sick like last time, not due to the expiration date, but because my body just can’t handle strong yerba mate.
Flavors: Ash, Caramelized Sugar, Roasted, Smoke, Smooth, Swamp
That sounds dreadful! I think I had Yerba mate years ago but I am not sure.
Are these things supposed to be healthy? That’s the only explanation I can come up with for why people would be willing to drink something that tastes so awful.
Haha, I really like yerba mate personally – something about that smoky yet lush and grassy rainforest taste really appeals to me, and I definitely find the “focus enhancing” qualities very helpful for keeping me productive in the mornings.
However, I’ll definitely admit that when a yerba mate is bad it’s really bad. Definitely feels a bit like navigating a minefield flavour-wise.
Ah, so it’s an acquired taste like puerh. (There are some terrible puerhs out there as well.)
I had a loose Yerba Mate just once. It was from Muud company, a Czech brand. Definitely interesting and tasty blend – it was with raspberries and coconut.
I may bought some from them, but 200g seems to much for me alone.
Others are for instance with tulsi, cola nuts & pineapple, ginseng…