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Canarias Serena
Yerba Mate Review
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To be honest, when I first had Canarias Serena I was so eager to taste it that I completely missed the fact that it is compuesta yerba mate. The sheer joy, surprise and “how did they do it” thoughts that I experienced after the first few sips are the true testament to this brilliantly unique and rare blend. A true masterpiece from Canarias and an exemplary proof of creativity and capability of mainstream brands.
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First look
Nose
The aroma of Canarias Serena is nothing short of fantastic.
It smells both aged and fresh — one whiff is more deep and fragrant, the other is grassy and green, reminding me of any Brazilian erva mate or Meta Mate 23.
That’s not a surprise given that Canarias Serena is a compuesta — passionflower, mint, lemon balm and linden flower extend this aged yerba mate with these summery, grassy and flowery notes.
Of course, earthiness and woodsiness from yerba mate still plays the main role in the nose of Canarias Serena, becoming even more pronounced in contrast with other herbs.
Cut
No surprises here — being a Uruguayan yerba mate, Canarias Serena has a typical for this region P.U.1 cut that feels even more dusty than an average yerba mate from this area, probably due to the addition of dry pulverized herbs.
The color of Canarias Serena is pretty pale, as it often is for an aged yerba mate, and overall very even with no signs of any burnt inclusions.
Preparation
Properly preparing Canarias Serena without clogging bombilla may be a challenging task for a novice matero.
Uruguayan yerba mates are not easy beasts to begin with, but the extra dustiness certainly requires at least some previous experience with yerba mate from this region and a good
spoon bombilla.
Meticulous molding of mountain of yerba is required after each refill — otherwise you will be stuck with a tightly clogged bombilla.
When it comes to temperature of water, Canarias Serena also proves to be quite demanding.
Choose the water that is too cold, not hotter than
65°C/150°F, and you’ll end up with mate that is not as complex and fun as it can be.
Go with water that is hotter than
80°C/175°F, and you’ll get a mate that is drinkable but nothing to write home about.
In both of these cases durability will be significantly shorter than its potential.
70°C-75°C/160°F-165°F is a sweet spot for Canarias Serena in my experience, yielding in a rich, balanced and long mate.
If you have managed to tame the beast that is Canarias Serena, then you’re in for a treat.
This uncommon blend is either a stroke of genius, or a brilliant result of many trial and error attempts from blenders at Canarias.
Passionflower adds grassiness and earthiness; linden flower adds floral and sweet notes; mint and lemon balm are not as obvious as in more common compuestas, but still provide some freshness and citrusy brightness.
And then the yerba mate itself.
If you only had a classic Canarias Tradicional — this mate is nothing like that.
I feel like the majority of yerba mate in the base of this blend is more likely to be the same as in Canarias Edición Especial, not the traditional one.
Forget about those bold masculine leathery bitterness — Canarias Serena has much more in common with Del Cebador Clásica or Sara Tradicional.
Milky, chocolate, bready, doughy and velvety-smoothfull-bodied taste has zero harshness, zero bitterness and absolutely no acidity.
Blended with aforementioned herbs, Canarias Serena is truly unique, special and absolutely incredible experience.
Finish
The aftertaste of Canarias Serena is quite subtle but still noticeable.
The earthiness and woodsiness of yerba mate are gone, and only herbs are left in the finish of this mate.
In that sense, Canarias Serena is a very drinkable mate that allows you to enjoy the syrupy mouthfeel while it still keeps up with the cadence of even the fastest drinkers.
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Durability
If you follow my advice on the temperature, you can expect a very solid long mate — I’m talking about 30 refills on average!
The flavors of Canarias Serena are distributed pretty evenly across the whole duration — this mate shows you everything that it has to offer right from the first refill.
Lavado is quite similar to the finish of Canarias Serena as this mate slowly loses the bolder flavors of yerba mate closer to its end, resulting in a light and herbal warm drink that can be sipped for some time after it becomes completely washed.
The last thing you want while drinking mate is to constantly re-heat your water or add more ice to it.
No matter if it's hot mate or cold tereré,
use a
vacuum bottle
or a very popular in South America
mate thermos
with sprout.
Effect
This yerba mate is called Canarias Serena not without a reason — it is intended to give you peace, serenity and relaxation.
While I haven’t noticed any sedative effect from this mate, the calmness and contentment that came shortly after I started drinking Canarias Serena was undeniable.
It is definitely not a morning pick-me-up energy bomb, but on the contrary — a perfect evening mate to help you unwind after a long stressful day.
***
What are your thoughts on Canarias Serena? Comment below!
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Compuesta
Compound in Spanish. Another word for a yerba mate blend. Yerba mate marked as compuesta comes with added herbs, like mint and lemongrass, or even with something like orange zest and green tea.
Pronounced [YER-bah MAH-teh] (or [SHER-bah MAH-teh] in Rioplatense Spanish). Also known as Ilex paraguariensis, a holly plant natively grown in South America, particularly in Northern Argentina, Paraguay and Southern Brazil (the term erva mate is used there more often). Yerba mate is used to make a beverage known as mate in Spanish, or chimarrão in Portugese. Oftenly, the term yerba mate is used to describe not only a plant, but also a final product of grinding, drying and aging the plant. Wikipedia article
Short for Padrón Uruguayo 1, or Uruguayan Standard 1 — one of three common standards of yerba mate cut in Uruguay. Yerba mate that is marked as P.U.1 consists of not less than 90% of pulverized dried leaves, and not more than 10% of finely ground dried stems. P.U.1 is the finest cut out of three. Most popular type of cut in Uruguay.
Special drinking straw with a filtration system in the lower end of it. Usually made from metal or hollow-stemmed cane. Used for drinking mate traditionally with a gourd. Wikipedia article
When mate is prepared traditionally, a mountain of yerba is yerba that is located inside the gourd in form of slope, that is exposed to hot water while drinking. Proper mountain of yerba will be always half-dry and half-wet, which results in more balanced and long mate. On the opposite side of mountain is the water hole.
Pronounced [MAH-teh]. Traditional South American caffeine-rich infused drink, very popular in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Southern Brazil (the term chimarrão is used there more often). It is prepared by steeping dried leaves of yerba mate in the gourd. Sometimes the gourd itself is referred to as mate. Wikipedia article
Spanish adjective which means washed. Used as a term to point out that all the flavors “washed away” from mate and it becomes tasteless. The more refills yerba mate can take before becoming lavado, the longer durability it has.
