Yerba Maté
Made from the South American Yerba maté plant(a type of holly) instead of the tea plant, it is also enjoyed with the leaves still in the cup.
The tea is then shared socially, passing from person to person.
Its taste has been compared to that of green tea but with a more herbaceous, grassy character. Enjoyed hot or iced
Yerba Maté is a healthy substitute with 20mg of caffeine per 2g, plus B-Vitamins, Iron, Magnesium and Antioxidants. Caffeinated Herbal.
Product Info
There are only a handful of plants in the world that produce caffeine, and yerba mate is one of them. Along with tea, coffee, cacao, kola (or cola) and guarana, the yerba maté herb is used to produce a caffeinated beverage. While prepared as an infusion to create a tea-like beverage, yerba mate contains no actual tea leaves. Yerba maté is an herb native to South America and is used to make the national drink of Argentina, Paraguay, Uraguay and Southern Brazil. In fact, yerba maté is consumed 6 to 1 over coffee in these countries.
Generally, yerba maté is steeped in hot water, not boiling, at a temperature similar to a green tea, around 160 to 180 degrees. This is somewhere just off the boil.
Using about 2 grams (1 teaspoon) of loose leaf tea per 8 oz. cup of water is a safe bet.
Always start with fresh, pure, cold filtered water when you brewing tea. Spring water is the best.
Cover your tea while it steeps to keep all the heat in the steeping vessel.
Taste your yerba maté after the recommended infusion time (we steep our yerba mate for 4 to 5 minutes) and then decide if you’d like it to go a little longer. Similar to a traditional tea, yerba maté can get more astringent and bitter the longer it’s infused in hot water.
Most high-quality loose leaf yerba matés teas can be steeped multiple times.