Bittery Mate, La Tranquera

La Tranquera — 3.45 of 5 palos — reviewed 4/4/2012 Type: Traditional (with Palos) Region: Los Helechos, Obera, Misiones, Argentina.

Description

This is a pretty strong yerba — very traditional tasting. Doesn’t have the rich robustness of a “Gaucho Mate,” like Kraus (Gaucho) or Canarias (traditional), but more on the astringent and bitter side. I like this mate once it mellows out a bit and loses its bite to some degree.

Cut 3.75 palos

Beautifully and evenly cut. Excellent ratio of palos, polvo, and leaves. High PPL-R. No monster palos. Good uniform army green color.

Body/Texture 3.00 palos

Very stable, strong, taste profile. More bitter than most yerbas. Pretty astringent. Sharp. Edgy. This yerba is very direct and in-your-face. Medium body, on the verge of a full body. A bit sour. Once green-tead, it becomes buttery and silky.

Nose 3.50 palos

Clean and simple nose. Very airy and light notes. Very faint caramel popcorn. Subtle sweet hints.

Finish 3.25 palos

Clean finish; especially when the yerba has begun “green-teaing” quite a bit and lost some of the sharp astringency that can be somewhat off-putting. This is an excellent yerba to let smooth out after several cycles and enjoy the ride to the finish.

Cycle 3.75 palos

Good lasting cycle.

Overall: 3.45 palos

Recommendation

Decent yerba to try out. Some people in Argentina proclaim this as their top brand — but then again, many Argentinians, here in Buenos Aires, use sugar to sweeten their mates. With a yerba this bitter and sharp, can I blame them? Not in my top 10 yerbas, this brand still holds its own among the good, traditional yerbas throughout the Misiones region. If anything, this yerba will definitely wake your palate up to a new experience.