Natura Orgánica

First look

Nose

When I take a whiff of Natura Orgánica, my mind is immediately taken back to its traditional sibling. In fact, I doubt that I would be able to tell any difference between the nose of this yerba mate and Natura Tradicional. It is still super fragrant and sweet, with rich notes of dry fruits, raisins and apricots, as well as pleasantly spicy notes of cedar and sawdust. There is also something fresh and clean about the aroma of Natura Orgánica, as if it has a touch of dry mint or eucalyptus. Or maybe it’s just my mind trying to trick me and find something different about the smell of those two yerbas from Natura. Anyhow, Natura Orgánica smells as enjoyable and heavenly as Natura Tradicional.

Cut

No changes here too — just like Natura Tradicional, this yerba mate has a classic con palo cut that is typical to Argentina. It looks very well-balanced, with good ratio of leaves, stems and healthy amount of powder. The only difference that I see between traditional and organic versions of Natura yerba mate, is that Natura Orgánica has less even grind than Natura Tradicional. I see pretty coarse leaf chunks alongside with smaller pieces, and the size of stems ranges from relatively big logs to small splinter-like palos.

The color of Natura Orgánica is pleasantly saturated for an aged yerba mate, and is more even than the grind, with uniform olive-green hue across the cut. There are occasional brownish leaves here and there, but it is to be expected from a standard drying method that involves a quick fire exposure.

Preparation

Con palo cut and balanced amount of powder make the preparation of Natura Orgánica a simple and effortless task. Stems in the cut aid in filtration, and presence of dust makes wet yerba more malleable and helps with creating a solid mountain of yerba that will not fall off after a refill. Initially I thought that Natura Orgánica may be too dusty for slotted​ and spring​ bombillas, but after using them with this yerba mate I can reassure you that you won’t have clogging issues and that you’re not limited to only a spoon bombilla​.

When it comes to temperature, I found that unlike its traditional sibling, Natura Orgánica does not play well with water that is hotter than 80° C / 175° F . In my experience, such hot water ruins the delicate flavors of this mate, shortens its durability and creates a very uneven evolution of taste, with overly strong and bitter first half that abruptly becomes tasteless towards the end. I recommend to drink Natura Orgánica with water that is anywhere between 60° C and 75° C / 140° F and 165° F to ensure the balance and interesting evolution of flavors, as well as getting maximum refills from this mate.

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

As I mentioned before, with proper water temperature Natura Orgánica exhibits an interesting evolution of taste. It starts off pretty mild and gentle — the first third is not overly bitter or strong, with aged, grassy and almost milky matcha-like flavors. Just like Natura Tradicional, this mate also has some dry-fruity notes that are present in its nose, creating a very sweet and pleasant taste profile. That milky smoothness combined with aforementioned notes again take me closer to Uruguay with a surprising resemblance to some of the yerbas from this country, mainly Del Cebador Clásica and Canarias Edición Especial.

The second third of this mate is where Natura Orgánica starts to show off its uniqueness. It gets more body and mouthfeel, and in the process those organic notes start to show up — I’m getting compost, earth, which overall creates a taste that reminds of a forest floor smell. As I’m getting closer to a final third, these notes become more and more dominant. Sweetness is not gone — it adds to this forest experience.

In the final third I notice a slightly salty and savory nutty notes that I remember from their traditional mate, which I guess becomes a hallmark of Natura yerba mates. I get salted peanuts, raw walnuts and hazelnuts, and believe it or not almonds, which combined with sweetness of this yerba mate and its light inherent bitterness create the unique marzipan note. As Natura Tradicional, this mate never becomes too bitter but to me is more light-bodied than its traditional sibling.

Finish

Honestly, everything I wrote about the finish of Natura Tradicional can be also said about the aftertaste of this mate. Fruity sweetness is the most obvious thing in the finish of Natura Orgánica and lingers for quite a while after a sip. Slight nuttiness is also present in the aftertaste of this mate. The light body and almost no bitterness make Natura Orgánica very drinkable and allow you to enjoy it at a very fast cadence if you’re in a hurry.

Durability

Unlike Natura Tradicional, this organic mate is much less forgiving to a water temperature. It’s not the first time that I observed that organic yerbas prefer a bit colder water than usual — both Kraus Orgánica and La Rubia Orgánica were much more balanced and durable at around 60° C / 140° F . Natura Orgánica is not an exception to this rule. With water that is not too hot, you can expect a solid moderate durability from Natura Orgánica — I was able to consistently get from 19 to 22 refills at temperature between 60° C and 75° C / 140° F and 165° F . In this temperature range, you also get a gradual and delicious lavado that will not be abrupt and sudden. If you still decided to drink this mate with water that is hotter than 80° C / 175° F , Natura Orgánica will be quite short — you’ll unlikely to get more than 14 refills from it with such hot water.

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

While I considered Natura Tradicional to be a neutral mate, it did exhibit some calming effects, although not so strong to be considered a relaxing mate. Natura Orgánica on the other hand is slightly more energizing on that spectrum. The energizing effect of this mate was not really noticeable in the morning, but after drinking Natura Orgánica in the evening on several occasions I noticed that it took me an unusually long time to fall asleep. It wasn’t too disturbing, but it may be something to consider, especially if you feel like you’re too sensitive to caffeine. Other than that, it was mostly a neutral mate, and I enjoyed sipping on it during the day, especially in the afternoon when I didn’t need a caffeine kick, while still keeping it on the safe side and not drinking it too close to bedtime.

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What are your thoughts on Natura Orgánica? Comment below!