Yerba Mate
I first tried Yerba Mate (pronounced mah-tay) on a trip to Uruguay, where it is everywhere and is an integral part of local culture. It is very closely tied to national identity, with the bag of yerba mate saying "El mate de mi pais," the mate of my country. People of all ages carry around gourds and a bombilla, along with a thermos of hot water. It is the national drink of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, but is drunk throughout South America. Due to something in it (not caffeine), it gives you a really good boost of energy.
I was taught by Uruguayan friends the proper way to prepare and drink mate. Mate refers to both the herb, yerba mate, as well as the entire drinking setup including gourd and bombilla. The bombilla is a metal straw with a straining mechanism at the bottom. The gourd is nearly filled with the yerba, which is a generous amount. This way, it can last all day without having to refill. The straw is placed in and hot water is poured in the gourd about halfway. Since the gourd is already filled with yerba, it's a small amount of water that is drunk in one sip through the straw. The gourd is sipped dry and refilled after every sip. This way the water stays hot, they tell me. The yerba is pushed to the side and top to keep it fresh, but if the drink starts to get weak, new yerba from the top is moved to the bottom where the water is.
If you want to know how to drink yerba mate, just look at the locals
The dry yerba maté herb smells similar to green tea, but a bit more earthy. Using the bombilla, on the first sip I got a lot of leafy bits coming through. On the second sip there were less, as the mate got more packed down. The subsequent sips have less and less leaves, I think because I drank all the ones that were small enough to pass through already!
Despite the scalding of the hot water and metal straw if you're not used to it, the drink is actually very refreshing. It tastes like a very strong green tea and leaves a cool sensation in your mouth as an aftertaste. It can range from sweet to bitter, varying slightly with each sip and depending on how recently the gourd has been packed. Not to mention, it does give you a good boost of energy. My Uruguayan friends insisted that it doesn't have caffeine, just something similar. Must be a special yerba mate caffeiene - works for me.
Even though my tongue was painfully burned the first time I tried it, I actually liked it. If you've been drinking it for a long time, I'm told, you can widthstand hotter and hotter water. I had no warning though, and got the hottest variety on first sip. It actually does taste better with hotter water, and you can control the heat by where you pour the water. You can achieve maximum heat by pouring directly on the straw, which will stay hot for quite a while and heat the water while you drink.
How to prepare yerba mate if you don't have a gourd
I liked it, but really didn't think I would drink it enough to justify buying the traditional drinking gourd. I brought home a huge bag (standard size, since people usually drink so much and you fill the gourd completely every time) of Canarias yerba mate, which is a common brand made in Brazil. Having a 1 KG bag, I experimented with other ways of drinking the yerba mate. It's nearly impossible to drink like regular loose-leaf tea unless you filter it somehow because the leaf pieces are so small you will end up drinking them all. I have a tea thermos with built-in filter that I got in China so I decided to give it a try. It strained out the leaves just fine, but I learned quickly that there is a reason for the traditional way of drinking mate: it gets bitter very fast if left to steep for more than a minute.
If you're ever in the southern cone of South America, especially in Uruguay or Argentina, I really recommend trying yerba mate. The locals will share it with friends, drinking out of the same straw, so don't be shy. It's a great part of the culture that you shouldn't miss.
*First and third images under Creative Commons License. All other images property of NewAtlasBev.com
Here is everything you need to get started drinking yerba mate in the traditional way:
Yerba Mate Gourd and Bombilla These come in a variety of shapes and sizes, which is why this link will bring you to a list of different gourds. Just pick one out that you like.
I couldn't find a thermos that looked exactly like the one in the picture, but this one's pretty big and even has a shoulder strap so you can carry it around with you so you can have unlimited mate all day long.
4 Comments
I think your friends were trying to tell you mate has mateine in it, not caffeine. That is a very common misconception--that yerba mate has caffeine (and it doesn't help yerba mate companies say it does, even though should know better). Mateine is very similar to caffeine, but not identical. As I understand it, while the caffeine molecule may be present, it is blocked by so many nutients, a new molecule is formed, known as "mateine." This is why when you drink it, your adrenaline gets revved up, but you don't have any of the adverse effects of caffeine (jitters, crash, hypertension, etc).
Chemical composition and properties
(Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mat%C3%A9)
Xanthines
Mate contains three xanthines: caffeine, theobromine and theophylline, the main xanthine being caffeine. Caffeine content varies between 0.7% and 1.7% of dry weight[14] (compared with 0.3–0.9% for tea leaves, 2.5-7.5% in guarana, and up to 3.2% for ground coffee)[15]; theobromine content varies from 0.3-0.9%; theophylline is present in small quantities, or can be completely absent.[16] A substance previously called "mateine" is a synonym for caffeine (like theine and guaranine)[17]
Studies of mate, though very limited, have shown preliminary evidence that the mate xanthine cocktail is different from other plants containing caffeine most significantly in its effects on muscle tissue, as opposed to those on the central nervous system, which are similar to those of other natural stimulants. The three xanthines present in mate have been shown to have a relaxing effect on smooth muscle tissue, and a stimulating effect on myocardial (heart) tissue.[18]
Theobromine is a water insoluble, crystalline, bitter powder; the colour has been listed as either white or colourless.[6] It has a similar, but lesser, effect to caffeine, making it a lesser homologue.
I just had to add one little comment on your great article. It's not pronounced Mah-Tay.... It is pronounced: Mah-Teh.
@Natalia, thanks for the clarification. I thought it was clear, but I guess not. In Spanish, mate is two syllables, the first one is like Ma as in "Mama," the second one rhymes with "day." It is pronounced slightly differently in different languages and dialects. In North America, especially the United States, you may see it written as Yerba Maté, with an added accent over the e.