Different Ways to Drink Yerba Mate - Keep It Simple

Tea Bags: Yerba mate packed in tea bags and steeped just like regular tea. Easy to add sugar or milk, if preferred. We have a vast selection of yerba mate tea bags including organic and flavored choices.

Coffee Pot: Yes, believe or not, you can brew it just like coffee. Usually 4 to 6 tablespoons for a 12 cup pot, but this will be completely up to you, just like coffee, adjust based on your preference for intensity. And by way, you can event take it to the office and not have to worry about someone looking at you weird because you are drinking out of some funny pipe-looking cup.

French Press:Steeping it in this plunger pot is the fastest and most efficient way to have yerba mate. You will get the most flavor in less time. The amounts of tea used vary per size of French press, so this you need to figure out based on your taste. Once you pour hot water in the French press, allow the yerba tea to steep 4 to 5 minutes before pressing it (by the way, we also carry French presses).

Iced Tea: The simplest way to make iced mate tea is with a coffee pot. Fill the pot with 10 cups of water (or 12 depending on the size) and add 3-4 tablespoons of mate. Brew and then pour into a pitcher or another type of container. If you want to lighten the taste, you can brew another 4 to 5 cups with the same mate from the previous brew. If this is still too strong, then you can brew more and combine it with the existing tea until you get your desired taste. Add about 10 ice cubes. Sweeten with sugar if desired. Place in refrigerator to chill.

Matermo:This is a self serving mate thermo with all the components of a traditional mate service in one unit; yerba, mate gourd, bombilla, water, and thermos. Since Matermos are insulated, they allow you to maintain the water hot and not go through the serving process of a traditional style. If you are looking for the best of both worlds, this is it (and guess what? we happen to have some! Who would have thought, right?

Traditional: Loose yerba served in a mate gourd, drank with a bombilla or sipper. Water poured by either a thermo or kettle (which we also carry).

The Mate – Gourd

The word "mate" derives from the Quechuas, an ancient South American civilization. Their native language is called Quichua, and today is still spoken in Paraguay and northern Argentina.

The word "mati" means glass or recipient for drinking, but it has been generalized as the common name of the fruit of the gourd plant, Lagenaria vulgaris, especially the varieties used to prepare and serve the infusion of yerba mate ("poro" and "galleta").

So, with the later proliferation of gourds made of the most varied materials, destined to prepare this infusion, the word mate began to be used to refer also to any kind of container. Then, the word "mate" began to name the infusion itself.

According to the way this beverage is prepared, it is known as: "Mate Amargo" (bitter), "Mate Verde" (green), or "Mate Cimarrón." This is the mate without sugar.

• Mate Dulce (sweet): prepared with sugar.
• Mate Tereré: bitter mate brewed with cold water.
• Mate Cocido (cooked) or "Yerbeao": prepared like tea.

Referring mainly to the brewed mate (bitter or sweet), this mate is a: daily inseparable companion of our people, official breakfast drink in the Military, Hospitals, Schools and for the large populations of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia and Peru, a basic nutritional tea, substitute of coffee, and, in some places, specifically among low-income inhabitants from northern Argentina, because of its high nutritional properties, a fundamental food source (due its low cost).

Yerba Mate Vocabulary

Yerba Mate: From the tree, "Ilex Paraguariensis", cultivated in South America. The yerba is the leaves; dried and crushed to make a tea-like herb.

Bombilla: A straw with a strainer on the end that filters the leaves out of the mate drink. Usually this is bronze-based and plated with other durable metals.

Mate: (two meanings) Mate is a shortened term used to refer to Yerba Mate, but it is also used to refer to the gourd used to drink mate derived from the Guarani word, "Mati."

Infusion: An English term used to refer to a traditional mate serving. It is the process of soaking the yerba, and filling the mate with water and drinking it. Several infusions can be taken from a single portion of Yerba Mate.

Cebador: The person who serves the mate, usually in a circle of friends or family.

Matero: A mate drinker.

According to the way or the ingredients used to brew the mate, it is, for the popular tradition, a communicator of moods or brewer's desires towards the one who will drink the mate.

Unsweetened mate: Indifference
Sweet mate: Friendship
Very sweet mate: Talk to my parents
Cold mate: Despise, indifference
Mate with balm: Disgust
Mate with cinnamon: You are in my thoughts
Mate with burnt sugar: I like you
Mate with orange peel: Come for me
Mate with tea: Indifference
Mate with coffee: Forgiven offense
Mate with molasses: I sympathize with your sadness
Mate with milk: Esteem
Very hot mate: I'm so in love with you
Boiling mate: Hate
Tasteless mate: Repulse Mate with cedrón: Agreement
Mate with honey: Marriage
Obstructed mate: Repulse
Foaming mate: True love
Consecutive mates: Ill will
Mate with Ombú: It is equivalent to strengthen the mate
Mate brewed through the bombilla: Dislike