Yerba Mate

[_Acid_Head_]

I bet some of you guys are wondering why I'm making such a big fuss over this herb, well let me tell you!

Yerba Mate, also known as "Tea of the Gods" or "South American Green Tea" is the best tea I've yet to drink. In Brazil/Argentina/Uruguay it's very popular, and it's no rare occurance seeing someone on the street carrying around a gourd with the metal straw needed to drink this awesome tea properly. When I was a little boy I drank this tea a lot, but haven't since for a long time, until last weekend. I loved it, so I bought myself the necessary equipment and am now drinking it here at my house. The taste is very bitter, some people like drinking it with sugar, but I like the natural taste. It's pretty healthy, cleans out your digestive system, has lots of fiber and other minerals/vitamins, but the ingredient that's unique and special to this tea is the Matteine. Matteine is a derivative of Caffeine, they're similar, but you can definetely feel the difference, and the best part is there are NO bad side effects like caffeine has, and it's not addictive.

I recommend this tea to anyone that either likes to try new teas, wants a good alternative to coffee/caffeine drinks, or is just curious:)Here are some links:

http://www.yerba-mate.com/
http://www.noborders.net/mate/

and a picture of hardcore drinking action! There are several different kinds of gourds, I prefer the ones with a wide top. If you wanna give this tea a try, contact me, there's a technique to preparing and drinking this stuff right.

[brokend]

actually, this tea was originally taken with a hollowed bone or wooden straw, and the natives in south america have different ways of preparing it for different occasions. it can be used as a stimulant, a meditative suppressant, they have been known to mix it with the coca plant (also refined into cocaine) to produce an adrenaline rush to improve production in coca fields, they even can know how to make it so it promotes good blood circulation to act as (you guessed it) an aphrodisiac.

it does not contain caffeine, but what is usually referred to as "matteine" (i'm not sure if that is the actual name for the chemical) works as a slow-acting stimulant, so you get similar effects, but instead of making you hyper, jittery, or shaky, it improves focus and concentration; essentially, it hightens your awareness.

i use it when i'm studying, so i have a better chance of passing a test. works great, and has that great earthy taste to it.

indeed, an amazing herb.

(also: "yerba" in spanish is pronounced the same as "hierba," the spanish word for herb. this word was created from a mixture of spanish and indigenous incan languages.) ;)

[_Acid_Head_]

Prepraration all depends where you live in south america, different areas have different customs, and that's basically the only differences. I'm going to guess northern brazillians mix it with coca, since that's where it grows, the picture I attached shows an uruguayan drinking mate, since they use hollowed out bull horns (also wide mate fruit), and in argentina they use closed mate fruit or tea bags. Tea bags suck, only gives you one cup of weak tea. I personally prefer a wide mate fruit, it lasts the longest and provides you with the strongest tea. Also, I've never heard of a wooden straw, I've only seen/heard of the metal ones.

How do you drink yours brokend?

[brokend]

i drink mine straight, or with a stick of cinnamon (for the sweet times, baby).
never, though, do i take it with sugar or miel. it doesn't do well to have that kind of sweet in it, it loses its richness. one thing about maté is that it is such a thick and rich tea that you don't need sweetener.

[[CAKE]anonymity]

Would a non tea drinker drink this and enjoy it? or does it require some sort of acquired taste?

[_Acid_Head_]

If you don't drink teas, it'll definetely be something completely different to you, so just be prepared for that. Think of it as drinking coffee or beer your very first time.

[_Acid_Head_]

Actually now that I think of it more, it will all depend what form you'll drink it in, if you're gonna buy tea bags, you'll be fine since the taste will be a lot weaker, and you can always add sugar or honey to take away the bitterness. But if you're gonna drink it THE MANLY WAY (caps for manliness) using a gourd, prepare to plummet into taste bud hell since you're a tea newbie.

edit: Don't kick my ass GRITS:PAs many women drink it using a gourd as men in my home country.

[[CAKE]anonymity]

I came really close to trying bubble tea last night, but the tea part of it turned me off.

Edit: I dont drink coffee or tea.

[Annatar]

what... how...why.... not drink coffee or tea? hot or cold??

ps. that stuff sounds cool

[Shalk]

I drank it, didn't like it, was too bitter for me...

I have some friends of mine in my school who came from Argentina so they gave me to try it once...

[[CAKE]anonymity]

Its ok at best. The problem is, whenever I want a drink, I dont say to myself I want tea or coffee. I will have the occasional ice cappicuno from tim hortons (canadian cafe) but thats pretty much it.

[brokend]

ok, now we're getting into new territory: iced coffees.

iced coffee shouldn't mean "cold coffee." the only decent iced coffee are toddy coffees. they sit and brew for twelve hours in coarse ground coffee, then later further diluted and kept cold. for brewing so long, they develope a richer flavor, and (roughly) three times the caffiene as hot coffee. :thumb:

you can also make toddy teas, but they are more expensive, and don't turn out as well as coffee unless you buy large quantities of really good teas.