I bought a couple of nice bags of what I believed to just be normal herbal tea. Having never heard of this "yerba mate" thing I thought it was just the brand. Once I looked closer at the bags it had a whole load of instructions like "use the pipe" and "don't stir as it blocks the pipe" which was just bizarre. Since when is a pipe or straw needed for tea? I tried to make a normal herbal tea with it but it tasted disgu…
The instructions you’re seeing are for the traditional bombilla (cup) and pipe/straw.
Funny that you refer to it as an “…incredibly hipster and convoluted drink”. It is actually a traditional drink enjoyed for hundreds of years and consumed daily by tens of millions.
You can brew it like any other loose leaf tea, but if you have problems with fiber particles you can just use a normal coffee filter after brewing and before transferring it to a coffee cup.