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Yerba mate, from Paraguay to Syria

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Re: Yerba mate, from Paraguay to Syria

#41
post #34

Paraguayan here. Nice to see a good article talking about Yerba Mate. A nitpick on Tereré. Tereré is usually the ice-cold version of mate. You drink mate with hot water, tereré with ice-cold water as a refreshment. The practice of drinking it with fruit juice or some sweet beverage is mostly prevalent on northern Argentina. Here it is mostly viewed as a sacrilege. You drink your yerba mate, whether hot or cold, unswe…

Parts of southern and central-western Brazil also drink Tereré ("Tererê") with fruit juice, most tipically lemonade, so I'd guess there may be some other places here and there in South America where that's also regionally true In those same regions a sort of sweetened hot mate drink is typically made for children. Do you have that in Paraguay? It's called "Mate-doce", and I'm pretty sure it's not related to what you…

> In those same regions a sort of sweetened hot mate drink is typically made for children. Do you have that in Paraguay? It's called "Mate-doce", and I'm pretty sure it's not related to what you described as "cocido", which I've never heard of

We also have "mate dulce" but it's mate usually only in name. It's made with coconut and other stuff, but drank in a mate gourd. As far as I can tell (I'm no expert, never made or drank the stuff) it does not carry yerba mate at all.

Re: Yerba mate, from Paraguay to Syria

#42
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parts of southern and central-western Brazil also drink Tereré ("Tererê") with fruit juice, most tipically lemonade, so I'd guess there may be some other places here and there in South America where that's also regionally true In those same regions a sort of sweetened hot mate drink is typically made for children. Do you have that in Paraguay? It's called "Mate-doce", and I'm pretty sure it's not related to what you…

Mate cocido is indeed a known concept, at least in southern Patagonia. It's a Mate infusion that is generally sweetened... I still do drink Mate Cocido every now and again...

The way you describe it is similar to what I know of 'Mate-doce. From the parent post I got the impression it was something different in its preparation and I was curious to understand exactly if/how it differs

Re: Yerba mate, from Paraguay to Syria

#43
Yerba mate is good, but even if you're not into it, consider getting a bombilla (that filtering metal straw). They are exceptionally convenient for drinking all kinds of herb-based beverage: tea, roiboos, whatever.

Re: Yerba mate, from Paraguay to Syria

#44
post #15

This part is rather easily explained, I think: "how did it captivate so many millions of daily drinkers around the world?" Unlike coffee beans it's trivial to produce, you basically just chop leaves and dry them, possibly with smoke. Unlike coffee there are no adrenergic heebie-jeebies, only a rather strong and 'pure' caffeine high. Supposedly there's a mineral content that'll be nice to the nervous system too. There…

My understanding is the cancer risk is from smoked Yerba mate only.

Re: Yerba mate, from Paraguay to Syria

#45
post #32

I'm a daily mate drinker (from Argentina). It's like a milder coffee. Great beverage, I recommend it.

It’s not mild, you just developed tolerance. Source: an Argentinian who drinks more coffee than mate

It's milder in the sense it has less caffeine than coffee and is also more approachable to tea drinkers because it doesn't have as strong of a darker roasted taste.

Not sure if the other xanthines make up for that.

Re: Yerba mate, from Paraguay to Syria

#46
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mate cocido is indeed a known concept, at least in southern Patagonia. It's a Mate infusion that is generally sweetened... I still do drink Mate Cocido every now and again...

The way you describe it is similar to what I know of 'Mate-doce. From the parent post I got the impression it was something different in its preparation and I was curious to understand exactly if/how it differs

Agree, sounds exactly the same... Also forgot to mention that you can indeed find Mate Cocido in individual bags: https://es.pampadirect.com/rosamonte-mate-cocido-yerba-mate-...

Re: Yerba mate, from Paraguay to Syria

#47
post #15

This part is rather easily explained, I think: "how did it captivate so many millions of daily drinkers around the world?" Unlike coffee beans it's trivial to produce, you basically just chop leaves and dry them, possibly with smoke. Unlike coffee there are no adrenergic heebie-jeebies, only a rather strong and 'pure' caffeine high. Supposedly there's a mineral content that'll be nice to the nervous system too. There…

My understanding is the cancer risk is from smoked Yerba mate only.

That or having the water at extremely high temperatures is my understanding too.

Re: Yerba mate, from Paraguay to Syria

#48
post #15

This part is rather easily explained, I think: "how did it captivate so many millions of daily drinkers around the world?" Unlike coffee beans it's trivial to produce, you basically just chop leaves and dry them, possibly with smoke. Unlike coffee there are no adrenergic heebie-jeebies, only a rather strong and 'pure' caffeine high. Supposedly there's a mineral content that'll be nice to the nervous system too. There…

I've read the stems have something bad in them. Higher end mate has less stems included.

Re: Yerba mate, from Paraguay to Syria

#49
post #34

Paraguayan here. Nice to see a good article talking about Yerba Mate. A nitpick on Tereré. Tereré is usually the ice-cold version of mate. You drink mate with hot water, tereré with ice-cold water as a refreshment. The practice of drinking it with fruit juice or some sweet beverage is mostly prevalent on northern Argentina. Here it is mostly viewed as a sacrilege. You drink your yerba mate, whether hot or cold, unswe…

Parts of southern and central-western Brazil also drink Tereré ("Tererê") with fruit juice, most tipically lemonade, so I'd guess there may be some other places here and there in South America where that's also regionally true In those same regions a sort of sweetened hot mate drink is typically made for children. Do you have that in Paraguay? It's called "Mate-doce", and I'm pretty sure it's not related to what you…

I'm drinking mate cocido right now.

It's basically milk tea but with yerba mate instead of tea.

Re: Yerba mate, from Paraguay to Syria

#50
post #32

I'm a daily mate drinker (from Argentina). It's like a milder coffee. Great beverage, I recommend it.

It’s not mild, you just developed tolerance. Source: an Argentinian who drinks more coffee than mate

It definitely makes me less jittery than coffee. I stopped drinking coffee, except for a cup in the morning and I have mate the rest of the day.

It’s still a stimulant but in a more relaxing way

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