Yerba Mate

[Paul_B]

Are there any people on here who have tried or who drink yerba mate?

I'm just curious because I tried it a bit because someone who lived in South America for more than a decade got me the paraphernalia used to drink it.

Never quite got the point of the flavour. Curious if there are any mate drinkers on here. How would you describe the flavour? Is it really like a drug? Addictive like tea can be to some?

 

[Toddy]

I've drunk it.
It's okay flavour wise, and it's a gentle wake me up kind of thing.
I do know that you can overdo it just like too much coffee though. No idea if you get caffeine withdrawal headaches if you cut back down afterwards.
No indigestion or heartburn from it, unlike coffee. No claggy too much tannin on the tongue from strong, or stewed tea, either.

M

 

[John Fenna]

I have the gourd and straw - after the first trial I binned the herbs and just keep the gear as ornament.
Foul stuff!

 

[Janne]

Love it. I do not have the 'proper' equipment, I use a normal cup and strainer.

milder than tea, much milder than coffee my stomach tells me.

IMo tastes better than Roiboos.

 

[John Fenna]

Anything is better than Roiboos!

 

[Janne]

I have always wanted to try an infusion made from Coca leaves. One day.....
Problem is I refuse to travel to central and south America.

 

[Broch]

Anything is better than Roiboos!

Yep, that's the stuff that tastes like the old straw in a rabbit's hutch smells

 

[Janne]

Yep, that's the stuff that tastes like the old straw in a rabbit's hutch smells

And it smells like the old straw in a rabbit's hutch tastes !

 

[Toddy]

Anything is better than Roiboos!

Oi!
I like rooibos, I'm drinking some right now
and if your's tastes like mouldy straw you're not buying good stuff.
Even the Tetley's or Eleven O'Clock teabags don't taste or smell like mouldy straw.....let alone rabbit piddle.

 

[John Fenna]

Sorry!
I meant nothing is BETTER than rooibos...
Yup - I would rather drink nothing than drink rooibos!

 

[Paul_B]

I was given the gourd and straw. Worth getting if you want the real experience I think. Or at least the straw and a covered cup could work.

Do you drink it the traditional way?

IIRC that is the first cup from freshly boiled water after soaking the mate in a little hot water until absorbed, then add more hot water to keep it going? Do you share it?

Etiquette (as I got taught) means it's an insult to be given the first drink. IIRC (which I don't I'm sure) it's got a name something like fool's cup. I've read it gets poured away or drunk by the person making it before they're guests get any.

I really can't remember what it's like. I'm not a t drinker more a strong coffee drinker. I never I like tea because I couldn't taste it. Poor sense of smell and taste I guess.

Many years ago I made a change and stopped drinking coffee only tea for a year. I got the taste for it. I drank only tea for about 2 years then I tried coffee I thought it too strong, overpowering and bitter in comparison. But I alternated between tea and coffee on a whim. Eventually I lost the taste for tea. However in the meantime my taste for coffee diminished such that I can't drink strong coffee. I make weak coffee now. Usually instant and half to 3/4 of a teaspoon and a flat level yoo of instant coffee in a mug.

Right now I'm wondering what might be a good alternative. My partner drinks yerba mate when working as an all day drink. One cup load and a litre thermos lasts all day. Perhaps that's what I need to do.

Any other drink options out there? Something warm and drinkable all day long?

 

[Janne]

You can drink herbal infusions.
The only decent ones you can get in shops that cater to the population with roots in Eastern Europe.
Most western European brands have additives as flavourings, colorants and such.
Or pick and dry your own.

But as you have weak taste buds that can be difficult.
Cikoria coffee?

I dry myself.
Black currant leaves
Tips of spruce
Tips of juniper

Another way to make tasty infusions is to use spices. Cinnamon. Star Anise. Stuff like that.
They used to do this in the old days as medicine.

Edit: fotgot my favourite!
A couple of thin slices of fresh Ginger, a curl of Citrus peel. Boiling water.

 

[Woody girl]

Fresh ginger tea is great for nausea,and a good pick me up and if you want to kick caffeine but still need a push. I also like to use liquorice root. It's supposed to have lots of health benefits. Never tried mate or rooibos tea. I do drink a lot of English breakfast tea and mint tea. Never touch coffee. Hate even the smell of it which means I can't enter some cafes if there is a strong smell of coffee . I dry a lot of herbs and use fresh forage for tea
Lime blossom lemon balm wild rosehip wild strawberry, bilberry bramble and raspberry are abundant in season here.

 

[Toddy]

Home made dandelion 'tea' is good too....and it's a great way to weed the garden

Basically dig up the roots, wash them off and cut them into same sizish pieces. Roast on a tray in the oven until they become almost caramelised. Dry them and then grind them up like coffee. Best really if boiled up with the water. Chicory roots are very similar, but they have a bitter tang that resembles coffee.
Chicory is a beautiful flower in the garden, and you can force the first buds, like early rhubarb, but just the erupting leafy bulb, for chicons too.

At this time of year the classic is acorn coffee. It's worth trying, and if you get a good mix of the acorns can be very good indeed. The thing is that not all acorns taste the same. We have some trees growing nearby which produce creamy white acorns that have almost no bitterness. They make excellent flour, but insipid coffee. Others in the woods are almost overpoweringly bitter.

I know liquorice root is a favourite ingredient for many folks, and it's a cheap filler in many herbal type teabags, but it's a vast-dilator and can cause problems for a lot of folks. It's a migraine trigger for many. I like liquorice, but by heavens it doesn't like me :/

 

[John Fenna]

I like both the dandelion and the acorn "coffee"s - but this year the acorn crop around here is very poor

 

[Paul_B]

Migraine trigger. Liquorice is definitely out! Wheeesh! Don't want to face that risk it's bad enough with the triggers I already have (and will never fully discover) without adding a known one to the pot.

I've tried ginger and also fennel. Cats claw too. Don't ask me what that is but they're all supposed to be good for stomach / intestinal issues such as IBS. My partner prefers infusions to medicine in her past so had them all at one point. Popular in the countries she lived in to use infusions for ailments.

Personally infusions don't seem to affect me as far as I can determine.

If you're ever visiting Lancaster check out Atkinsons. A long established coffee and tea supplier / blender. Can be pricey but their tea and coffee is really worth the trip. For anyone into infusions they do a lot of them to, tisanes, etc.

Yerba mate is best bought online. My partner buys on bulk and it lasts a long time.

Taste is a funny thing to me. I say I've got a bad sense of taste and smell but I am sensitive to some year tastes and smells. It's very patchy. As a result I don't think I learnt how to properly distinguish flavours and smells. I mix things up too. At other times I can only say whether it's a nice or horrible smell / taste, as in there's no subtlety about it for me.

Coffee is too strong but tea is too weak even if it's stronger than my coffee is. I think that probably explains how messed up those two senses are.

BTW pine needle tea is nice. I really need to find a good, local place for Scots Pine so I can stock up with spring growth of new needles. They're probably the easiest of the safe needle species to identify.

 

[Tengu]

I have never tried it.

You need to have the good stuff; we drink too much poor tea in this country. Even Twinings is duff.

I like China, as you know.

Or, for fruit tea THAT ACTUALY TASTES LIKE FRUIT THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT I buy the London Tea and Herb company stuff.

Some of these things, (like Pueh) you need to try once, and be revolted, then try again.

It is often better on the second try. Dont discard after the first.

 

[Paul_B]

If such infusions are your thing then try yerba mate. You can buy cheap taster kits online. Spend little then if you get the taste you can replace your kit with the better kit. Get the yerba mate and the straw / filter. You don't need any special gourd unless you want to. A cup / mug will be enough.

I might get my lass to show me the best way to make it again. My big issue is I have a poor threshold to heat. That probably makes the yerba mate strong.

 

[Sundowner]

Love that stuff but haven't got the proper utensils. May have to have a look on flea bay

 

[Keith_Beef]

I drink it now and again. I brought back the bombilla and cup from Chile, back in 1997; they must be kicking about in the house somewhere, but I can't find them, so if I get yerba baté nowadays, I either buy it in bags, just like tea bags, or I prepare it from loose leaves in a Bodum filter pot.

The grocer in my town stocks the loose leaves, and the big "gastronomic" shop near my work stocks the bags. i think I've had Nobleza gaucha, Amanda and Taragui brands, and don't remember any being noticeably better than another.

If you search on-line, you'll find plenty of stockists.

It's a nice change from tea, that in any case I only drink when I'm off-colour with a cold or a cough, like right now...

In the US, I had several big Korean shops nearby. The Koreans have a lot of drinks based around ginger or ginseng, often with honey. I think there are some with cedar pollen, too. Sometimes, when I've got a bad cold, I make up a drink by slicing a fresh, juicy piece of ginger root really thinly on the mandolin, putting this in a glass with boiling water, honey, lemon juice and a couple of teaspoons of chilli flakes.

Over here in France, there are loads of different kinds of "tisane"; dried leaves, flowers, fruits, even stems (cherry stalks, for example), and a few roots. You can find a few industrial brands in every supermarket, and find small shop selling loose from jars in most small to medium-sized towns. The last two that I bought were linden and hop flower.

Each variety is supposed to have some kind of medicinal property. There might be some truth to some of them, but I think you need to really believe really strongly in some of the claims to notice any benefit...