Mathienzo Selección Especial

First look

Nose

The aroma of Mathienzo Selección Especial is absolutely mesmerizing. Even a slight whiff of the opened bag is enough to get the full bouquet of fragrant smells, and a strong deep one may even overpower you with the richness of its nose. That’s what 24 months of aging does to yerba mate — I get woodsy cedary notes; a lot of spices, like nutmeg and vanilla, and even some hints of cocoa and nutty notes in the aroma of Mathienzo Selección Especial. The nose is very sweet, but it is a very sophisticated and almost noble sweetness. The bag of Mathienzo Selección Especial indicates a light toasted tinge to it, and I agree — it’s not smoky or tobaccoey, but smells in the same fashion as what a light roast does to coffee or hazelnuts, or even how experienced chefs roast their spices to bring out aromatics. This yerba mate smells like that, as if that light toast brought the already fragrant and complex aromatics to a whole new level.

Cut

Looking at the cut of Mathienzo Selección Especial it’s easy to see where that light toasted tinge comes from — inclusions of slightly brownish leaves are all over this yerba mate. It’s not a full-blown tostada though, and is actually quite saturated and green for yerba mate that has been aged for a whopping 24 months. Not as green and vibrant as Brazilian unaged erva mate, but still, it seems like that light toast was done before the aging, during the sapecado stage, as a way to preserve some of that color.

Other than that, Mathienzo Selección Especial is a con palo yerba mate, and judging by the look and feel of its cut it leans more into the stems and the dust, compared to average Argentine yerba mate. The leaves are obviously there, but at least visually they are dominated by small to medium ground stems and abundant powder that makes Mathienzo Selección Especial quite airy and fluffy. Special selection in its name also indicates that this yerba mate was carefully and meticulously blended, so the composition and the proportions of the main components of elaborated yerba mate — leaves, stems and powder — were a deliberate choice of Mathienzo.

Preparation

Even though on paper Mathienzo Selección Especial is a con palo yerba mate, the higher than average dust content, combined with frequent stems ensured an interesting and unique preparation experience. All that fluffy dust present in the cut of this yerba mate absorbs water extremely well — every time I did the initial pour of lukewarm water, I always came back to it being completely absorbed by yerba, with absolutely no water left in the water hole. It’s almost like Mathienzo Selección Especial inevitably builds the mountain of yerba for you! I even found myself not really tamping and molding the mountain after the initial preparation, that’s how well it stayed together, even after five and ten refills. You might think now that all that water-absorbing dust will easily clog the bombilla, but that’s where the stems come into play. When properly shaken upside down before adding agua tibia, stems end up at the bottom of the gourd, while small fractions such as dust and tiny leaf particles stay on top, thereby preventing the filter of bombilla, which also rests at the bottom of the gourd, from being clogged.

When it comes to the temperature of water, on the bag of its yerba mate Mathienzo suggested to use 70° C to 82° C / 160° F to 180° F , but after trying this mate with various hotness of water I disagree with such recommendation. In my experience, water that is 80° C / 175° F and higher disrupts the balance of Mathienzo Selección Especial, both in terms of its taste, which becomes overwhelming at first and suddenly flavorless towards the end, and its durability, which becomes significantly shorter. At 70° C to 75° C / 160° F to 165° F , this mate tastes much more balanced and even, however, it is at 60° C - 65° C / 140° F - 150° F where I found the perfect temperature for Mathienzo Selección Especial. Such low temperature in my opinion preserves those gentle and subtle flavors that this mate has to offer and allows you to really embrace its true complexity and enjoy a nice evolution of flavors. As a bonus, I also managed to get the most refills from Mathienzo Selección Especial at lower ranges of water temperature.

Most convenient way to get ideal water temperature is to use an electric kettle​ or a stovetop kettle​ with temperature control. If you prefer traditional kettle you can use a infrared thermometer​ or a food thermometer​ .

Taste

When prepared with the right temperature, this mate is an absolute treat. It’s not anything weird or out of ordinary — at its heart, Mathienzo Selección Especial still has that classic, familiar yet comforting aged Argentine mate taste. The balance between sweetness and bitterness is fantastic — not too sugary to become off-putting, and not too astringent to make you want to chase it with water.

At first, Mathienzo Selección Especial is quite vegetal, even a little sour, like a semi-dry apple. I also get woodsy notes, like oak and cedar. As I go through refills this mate becomes more subtle and mild. Approaching the halfway mark, it’s getting light and milky, still vegetal and pleasant, like a sweet green tea with milk. As its nose, it’s also slightly nutty and chocolatey. You will understand when it’s time to turn the yerba when it will become too light and mild, and since the solid mountain will stay in place throughout all those refills and will not allow you to flood the mate easily, you will have no other choice than to shift all the yerba to the opposite side, which will reveal a still almost completely dry and untouched side, ready to be refilled and sipped.

This maneuver reinvigorates the flavors of Mathienzo Selección Especial; I start noticing other notes and flavors that were not present in the first half of this mate — prunes and raisins, pipe tobacco with light smokiness, surprisingly appearing out of nowhere, cherry pit, and even black pepper. Despite being quite dusty, Mathienzo Selección Especial never gains any substantial body throughout the drinking session, and always remains crisp, light and clear. As I head toward the end of drinking session, milky green tea notes make a comeback, and mate finally relaxes its stiff structure and allows me to fully flood it and extract the taste from all the yerba in the gourd.

Finish

The aftertaste of Mathienzo Selección Especial also does not disappoint, and continues the complexity set by the initial taste of this mate. Nutty and woodsy notes dominate the finish of Mathienzo Selección Especial, with hazelnut and cherry pit being the most prominent ones. It also has its fair share of bitterness and slight acidity, while the sweetness is the first thing to disappear after swallowing the sip. The finish of Mathienzo Selección Especial somewhat reminds me of sipping on some nice bourbon, with those darker and brown notes. The last thing I want to mention about the aftertaste of this mate is how long and lingering it is. I can taste those flavors for a few minutes after a sip, which allows me to really ponder and appreciate the gourmet factor of Mathienzo Selección Especial. Surprisingly, such a pronounced and lasting finish does not make this mate less drinkable, and I enjoyed sipping it even at a fast pace without feeling that my taste buds are getting overwhelmed.

Durability

At 60° C to 65° C / 140° F to 150° F you can expect the longest durability that Mathienzo Selección Especial has to offer. The spread in refill values however was quite large — sometimes I was able to get 25 refills, bordering on the long durability territory, but sometimes it was 20 and even 18 refills, making it a moderate durability mate. At 70° C - 75° C / 160° F - 165° F Mathienzo Selección Especial was more stable, and I managed to get around 18 refills on average. If you decide to go with water that is hotter than 80° C / 175° F , even though I don’t recommend it for taste reasons, you can only expect a short durability from this mate — 11 refills on average from my experience. As I mentioned earlier, colder water also offers a nice evolution of flavors throughout the duration of drinking, and unless you brew Mathienzo Selección Especial at 80° C / 175° F and higher, lavado comes gradually and naturally, leaving behind a slightly sweet, warm and comfortable mate for a few final sips.

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 spout.

Effect

After drinking Mathienzo Selección Especial consecutively for a few weeks, I am really surprised with effects it had on me, even though I’m used to experiencing the health and mental benefits that any yerba mate provides. During and after drinking this mate I noticed myself having an endless stream of thoughts — random ideas, stuff from long time ago suddenly popping up in my head, and so on. It was actually quite hard to just sit and drink Mathienzo Selección Especial and appreciate its flavors and nuances, as I constantly was distracted by another new thought coming to me. If you actually forcefully guide that stream of ideas into something purposeful, like a deep work or study, this mate can be an immensely helpful companion. For instance, I really enjoyed sipping on Mathienzo Selección Especial while doing some coding and design that required creative approaches and thinking outside the box. It also provided that needed caffeine and energy that was needed after some nights where I had a poor sleep.

In the evening however drinking Mathienzo Selección Especial was quite a disaster! The levels of energy it provided along with those endless thoughts meant that I couldn’t properly unwind and relax, and sipping on this mate before bed actually caused some of those sleepless nights. Luckily, I didn’t experience any physical jitters or heartburn that you can sometimes get from too much coffee or energy drinks. Anyway, Mathienzo Selección Especial is in my opinion a great morning pick-me-up mate and great afternoon companion for some creative work, but be extra cautious with it in the second half of the day, and better not risk drinking it in the evening.

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