This leafy elixir offers health benefits including the potential to prevent colon cancer and improve brain function. With stimulant compounds like theobromine, it offers energy without the jitters or insomnia of coffee.
Mate is a drink made by steeping dried leaves from the yerba mate plant in hot water. Mate tastes somewhat like green tea, with hints of tobacco and oak.
Preparation Methods
The simplest method is to treat it like any other tea. Add it to your favorite mug, wet with cold water then pour hot water over leaves. This gives you a mellow taste so you may need to adjust the temperature up or leave the leaves brewing for longer if you desire a more intensive taste.
You can also drink tea bags which can be an easy way to get accustomed to mate.
For a more immersive experience, use a gourd or calabash, metal straw and tea ball.
Cold Mate
- Tereré is a cold version, often mixed with fruit juices. It’s popular in hot parts of South America.
Other Methods
- You can also make it using a French press, adjusting leaf amount and steeping time to find your preferred strength.
- An electric kettle with a tea infuser also works well.
Flavor and Serving
Mate tea is naturally caffeinated with a bitter, earthy flavor. Tips to improve the taste include adding mint, cinnamon, ginger or sweetener. It can be served hot or iced.
To brew traditionally, use a gourd and a metal straw called a bombilla. Shake the gourd slightly to settle the leaves along one side. Insert the bombilla into this clear space without leaf debris. Slowly add hot water and sip the tea through the bombilla.
With a French press, you can easily adjust the strength by choosing how much loose leaf you use and how long you let it steep.
- Mate can be prepared hot, cold, or even as a latte.
Culture and Tradition
Argentinians drink mate daily, often for breakfast or before sunset, hot or cold depending on weather. Sharing mate forges emotional links between people. Beyond the drink itself, getting together to matear bonds people.
Yerba mate can be prepared in other ways too. It can be infused like tea – mate cocido. Or soaked in cold water then hot water added – yerba mate gringo style. Don’t use boiling water – 160-180 degrees is best.
- Traditionally it is sipped through a metal straw with a filter.
- Gourds are passed around in a circle to share communally.
But modern methods like French press or tea bags work too. Mixing with herbs or fruits alters the flavor. The tradition represents friendship and bonding.