Combinations for Flavor
Mate tea and mint: Mixing mate leaves with fresh mint leaves creates an invigorating drink perfect for hot summer days.
Adding herbs to mate tea can enhance its flavor and provide health benefits. A popular herb to mix with mate leaves is mint, which provides a cooling sensation.
The combination of coffee powder with mate tea is an explosive drink with high caffeine levels, making it the perfect mix to kick start your day.
It is very common to mix mate tea with brandy, especially during cold winter evenings.
There are four ways of incorporating sugar with mate leaves:
- Add sugar to the mate gourd and shake it so mate tea and sugar are combined.
- Alternatively, add half a teaspoon of sugar close to the bombilla, and continue adding sugar as desired.
How to Sweeten Mate Tea
Adding sugar is probably the easiest and most common way of having sweet mate. There are four basic ways of incorporating it:
- Add a sugar cube or two teaspoons of sugar to the mate gourd and add the mate leaves. Cover the top of the gourd and shake it up and down so that South American tea and sugar are combined. Then, continue as usual.
- Alternatively, you can add half a teaspoon of sugar on top of the yerba but close to the bombilla, and continue adding sugar as desired.
Adding different herbs to mate tea can enhance its flavor, making each cup a unique and aromatic experience.
The combination of coffee powder with mate leaves is an explosive drink with high caffeine levels, making it the perfect mix to kick start your day.
You want to make the switch to mate tea. Don’t worry, it’s not complicated to make a healthy cup that tastes great. Whether using loose leaves or tea bags, follow three rules when brewing. Moisten the mate leaves with cool water first. Never use boiling water—170F is ideal. Boiling water makes the brew much more bitter.
Steps:
- Fill the gourd two-thirds full with mate leaves.
- Place the bombilla with the filter side down over the mate leaves, preserving a gap.
Yerba mate is a holly plant native to South America. Traditionally, use a gourd and bombilla straw to sip the tea. The gourd holds the leaves and water. The bombilla filters out the leaves. You can also make it in a French press. Just add leaves and hot water, let sit, and press.
Too much mate tea long-term may increase cancer risk. Pregnant or nursing women should use caution.
Adding CBD oil, capsules or hemp leaves can offset caffeine side effects like anxiety. CBD doesn’t have THC, so it won’t cause impairment.