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How a German Soda Became Hackers' Fuel of Choice

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Re: How a German Soda Became Hackers' Fuel of Choice

#111

Post by Vektorweg »

lispm wrote: post #29
Vektorweg wrote: post #16

Or tea. Probably the hackers second choice.

If I look at the company I work for, it's quite diverse. Munich: human-made espresso and beer. I haven't seen much tea. Düsseldorf: machine-made espresso, Club-Mate and a variety of tea. Don't know what they drink in Frankfurt. The tea drinkers in Düsseldorf are not yet very sophisticated. What most of them failed to understand: absolutely excellent Japanese green tea is available - due to s strong Japanese community…

In thuringia, clubmate is preferred. But i also saw many hackers just drinking tea.

Re: How a German Soda Became Hackers' Fuel of Choice

#112

Post by weland »

noir_lord wrote: post #69
weland wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a wonderful drink. I've been hooked up on it for many years now and it's the perfect hacking companion. I still get my morning resurrection from coffee, but abandon it afterwards. Mate doesn't give me the jitters, doesn't burn my stomach and it's very low-maintenance compared to tea, which needs to be left just this much time before it becomes a bitter, undrinkable blargh.

> before it becomes a bitter, undrinkable blargh. Try a small amount of honey, I drink a fair amount of tea (I'm English, it has to be done) and I'm one of those freaks who like it pretty stewed but if I go too far I find a drop of honey takes a lot of the edge of the bitterness.

I'm a tea junkie myself, although unlike the pretentious tea junkies I don't pretend to be insulted at the sight of a teabag. I'm ok with the normal bitterness of the tea; what troubles me is that it does occasionally happen that I drop the bag or the leaves in, start debugging, and twenty minutes of how the fuck does this even compile later it suddenly dawns on me that FUCK I'VE BEEN STEEPING THIS FOR 20 MINUTES THIS IS GOING TO MELT MY TONGUE.

Mate doesn't suffer from this inconvenience. I just pour the water and forget about it, refilling it when there's no more of that sweet liquid and tossing in more leaves when that liquid is no longer sweet.

Edit: that being said, your tip about adding a drop of honey is spot on! I also like my tea a bit overstewed and adding a splash of honey does take the edge of a little if I push it too far.

Re: How a German Soda Became Hackers' Fuel of Choice

#113

Post by GFischer »

greggman wrote: post #104

A lot of comments here seem to be equating various tea forms of mate with Club Mate. Club Mate is a soda as in it belongs on the self somewhere next to Coke and Red Bull. It's got more caffeine than Coke but only about 1/2 the sugar. I really liked it. Tea made from mate is the same only in the sense that orange juice is similar to orange soda. As in they are arguably not really similar. That's not to say anything ne…

I equated it mostly because I was commenting about its effects - if Club Mate has a similar effect than regular Mate "tea", it's a better alternative to coffee, and at least one comment here makes it seem so (cessor: "With mate the caffeine rush is much better"):

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7725211

I'll have to taste Club Mate and see what it tastes like (I might like it more than regular Mate! I find it too bitter)

Re: How a German Soda Became Hackers' Fuel of Choice

#115

Post by biafra »

bshimmin wrote: post #26

"The golden soda has become essential nourishment for anyone in Berlin involved in hacktivism, club culture, dance music, tech—just about everyone in the city under the age of 40." What a ridiculous sentence.

yeah. I am 40 and still drink club mate. :-)

Re: How a German Soda Became Hackers' Fuel of Choice

#117

Post by xtracto »

weland wrote: post #68
GFischer wrote: post #11

Mate is the national drink here in Uruguay, has been for a century or two :) (and for 500 years in Paraguay). And it was a fad in California some years past. ("According to a major retailer of mate in San Luis Obispo, California, by 2004, mate had grown to about 5% of the overall natural tea market in North America") But I'm surprised at the speed it's propagating in Europe. Many say it's much better suited for prolo…

It's a wonderful drink. I've been hooked up on it for many years now and it's the perfect hacking companion. I still get my morning resurrection from coffee, but abandon it afterwards. Mate doesn't give me the jitters, doesn't burn my stomach and it's very low-maintenance compared to tea, which needs to be left just this much time before it becomes a bitter, undrinkable blargh.

I started drinking Mate after my father brought some yerba (and two Materas) from Chile. I prefer it to coffee mainly because the latter kills my stomach and intestine while I tolerate Mate quite well.

One recommended way of serving it is to grab a Grapefruit and "knead" it (as if it was dough) so that the juices are freed inside. Then make a big hole (like a triangle) with a knife, getting as deep as possible; add some yerba mate in the hole, and then place the bombilla (straw) in there. You can add some honey for a sweeter flavour.

Re: How a German Soda Became Hackers' Fuel of Choice

#118

Post by jkrems »

GFischer wrote: post #11

Mate is the national drink here in Uruguay, has been for a century or two :) (and for 500 years in Paraguay). And it was a fad in California some years past. ("According to a major retailer of mate in San Luis Obispo, California, by 2004, mate had grown to about 5% of the overall natural tea market in North America") But I'm surprised at the speed it's propagating in Europe. Many say it's much better suited for prolo…

Yerba Mate and Club Mate are two completely different beasts. Club Mate is more of a "soft drink" than an actual tea.
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