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Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

71–80 of 168 posts

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#71

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…

Like many new things, Mate can certainly be an acquired taste!

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.

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too live on a small island in the North Atlantic and I'm making my way through my first bag of Anna Park Yerba Mate (Andrew Huberman recommendation)[1] Hello from Canada! [1] https://www.amazon.ca/Anna-Park-Yerba-Mate-Organic/dp/B01B6W...

Well yes, my island is not disconnected from the wider world. It is just prohibitively expensive to ship individual products in. Also there is no Amazon or its like here. Hello back from Iceland!

I see the https://metamate.cc/ mentioned elsewhere here seems to deliver to Iceland. Don't know about the cost though, maybe acceptable? They are based in Berlin and seem well stocked?

Edit: You know, thinking about the amount of flights to and from Kevflavik, no matter if commercial airlines, or business jets doing a stopover there for refueling, I feel there is a niche to exploit. For something like a mini UPS/FedEX/DHL using that empty space, which has to be there?

I mean, open https://globe.adsbexchange.com/ point it to KEF, let it run for a day in some tab, and see how much air traffic from BOTH sides of the Atlantic goes there?

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#73

Coming from an Argentine family Yerba Mate is great. I'm American but have been drinking it frequently since the time I was 14 or so. I drank tons in college but took a multi-year break a few years down the line due to reflux issues that it made worse. Those are some things to look out for - heartburn, sinusitis, negative changes in mood, tension headaches. I notice that there is a huge difference between Yerba Mate…

Playadito is great. There's a kind of Yerba Mate that is easier on the liver and stomach now called Cachamai, and there's some alternatives too. It normally comes in with extra flavors such as Mint, Orange, etc.

I'm Argentinian, been drinking Mate daily (sometimes several times a day) since I was ~18 (32 now) and that Yerba is great :)

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#74
post #28
post #14

Anyone else had terrible teeth pigmentation when consuming yerba mate tea? I had tried using it for some time, but had to go to the dentist because my teeth where turning brown. After realizing that introducing the tea was the only change I made before the issue started, I stopped consuming and the issue was indeed solved.

Dentist feedback: yerba mate pigmentation could be clean with a typical prophylactic treatment.

Definitely. Here in Brazil we brush our teeth 3 times every day (most people that I know). And I do this professional cleaning once in a year/2-years for other reasons as well. No issues. I drink since I was 7 y.o. (some decades counting from there).

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#75

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…

I brew it just like any regular herbal tea and I'm pretty happy with it. The whole ritual with the pipe and gourd is a bonus, but never required. If you dislike the more bitter flavors about it, try steeping it at a lower temperature (like 70-80C) and only for a short duration (2 or 3 minutes). That should make it a lot more bearable to you. You can also get packages that have less or no stems or powder, which both a…

Tsk. The green stuff. Unroasted. Sieve in glass. Boiling water. 10 minutes. 390ml Äqctiön! :-)

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#76
post #2

Is there any Yerba Mate you can buy that doesn’t taste horrible though? I consider myself pretty adventurous, but I bought some the other day and was shocked at how such a gross beverage has become popular so quickly.

If you compare to coffee without sugar, It's definitely much easier.

Like others are saying, it's an acquired taste.

I have the same problem living now in southeast Brazil, because many people in south acquire this taste since childhood, like myself. When I offer to people in Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro they make a sad face as well. :)

But my wife is liking now (she's natural from Rio). It took like a decade for her to really enjoy.

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#77
post #9
post #2

Is there any Yerba Mate you can buy that doesn’t taste horrible though? I consider myself pretty adventurous, but I bought some the other day and was shocked at how such a gross beverage has become popular so quickly.

It is hard to find yerba mate that doesn't taste stale outside of south of South America. Friends that drink it ask for people traveling to SA to bring them some. They are also very particular about how to choose it.

There's some brands in south Brazil that sell in a vacuum bag, like coffee, that I store for an entire year.

This is how I'm "importing" the good stuff to Rio from south Brazil or Buenos Aires, Argentina sometimes. It's easier to find good brands in Auckland, NZ in specialized stores than here.

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#79

From the introduction, which starts by trying to give some wider taxonomic context: >The genus Ilex comprises about 450 species growing in the tropical regions of South America and Asia. Ilex trees are located exclusively in South America... The roughly 500-600 species in the genus Ilex are commonly called hollies and include the European Christmas holly, I. aquafolium. The genus overall has a worldwide distribution…

You’re right, it’s wrong, but not that wrong. Several sources indicate the majority of Ilex species occur in South America and Asia, so that was probably what they meant to say. Ilex paraguariensis is limited to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina, and are clearly the “Ilex trees” referred to in the second sentence quoted. So, yeah, it’s imprecise and syntactically sloppy but not that far out, and not the main po…

It's woefully wrong for something in the primary literature. Yes, I understood what information they were sloppily failing to be precise about. If I were refereeing this paper I'd insist on a correction.

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#80

From the introduction, which starts by trying to give some wider taxonomic context: >The genus Ilex comprises about 450 species growing in the tropical regions of South America and Asia. Ilex trees are located exclusively in South America... The roughly 500-600 species in the genus Ilex are commonly called hollies and include the European Christmas holly, I. aquafolium. The genus overall has a worldwide distribution…

A related species is Yaupon Holly that grows all over the Gulf Coast region from Texas to Florida.

That one is Ilex vomitoria and is the only native caffeine producing plant that grows in north America. I make tea from the leaves after roasting them for a few minutes on low heat. You can find Yaupon Tea for sale in quite a few places now after articles about it appeared a few years back.

It is a hardy bush that can form thickets that are nearly impenetrable. It is used as a landscape plant here in Texas and most nurseries carry dwarf varieties that form hedges. I prefer the trees. They can reach 20' tall and are covered in berries during winter. On the coldest days here in N Texas the birds descend on my trees and feast until everything is gone.

I agree that it seems like they ignored a lot of related plants in their description.

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