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Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

151–160 of 168 posts

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

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was told to spit out the first few sips.

Traditionally it's the job of the one preparing/serving the mate (the cebador) to take the first sips until it tastes right. So it's entirely up to you if you want to spit it out. Just make sure that by the time you offer it to someone else, that it's tasting good.

I still can't get past the sharing aspect, especially in the time of covid.

Have there been any studies on disease transmission in cultures that partake of drinks in this communal manner?

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

#152
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

heh, i went to Argentina for work once.. (it was just pre covid) and I was shocked and amazed at their consumption of this stuff... not only do they pour copious amounts of artificial sweeteners into the cups but they share the cup and straw around the office! I shudder to think of them doing that during covid...

Sharing the straw is definitely the way to go here in Argentina. Note: I'm Argentinian but I don't like mate and sharing a straw feels gross to me. Other Argentinians tell me there's something wrong with my genes. Mate is a social thing here. You're supposed to share and there's a ritual about how the round goes, who prepares the mate for the rest of the group, and how you signal that you don't want to drink anymore.…

I'm not following the joke, can you elaborate?

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

#153
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.

I remember trying the Guayaki brand canned version that was lightly sweetened and really liking that, but they don’t seem to offer it any longer. Odd. Definitely try various levels and types of sweetener, as others have suggested, and I’ll add: try it iced.

I got the loose leaf bagged stuff from that brand. How does it compare to other brands?

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

#154
post #145
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been drinking mate my whole life but Tereré, if you are not used to it, is known to ensure you a fast and mostly unexpected bowel evacuation.

I never experienced this. Maybe if the ice & water is from dubious origin?

No. As a seasoned tereré drinker, the fact that you're drinking lots of (mostly) cold water, added to the higher polar and ionic charge of various organic compounds and soluble mineral found in it, should somewhat encourage movement of your lower intestinal tract. Doctors here do not discourage drinking of tereré, but warn that it does not hydrate the body properly, but the contrary. And this is one of the reasons: in the balance, your body loses more water than it gains, so you should supplement it with regular hydration.

There's also the fact that regular Camellia sinensis tea has astringent properties, and people keep expecting that yerba mate, being a "herbal tea", might have similar effects, when in fact it doesn't.

Of course, as parent stated, many people never experience such effects. YMMV.

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

#155
This may sound weird yet, in my country,Yerba mate has different connotations during the sectarian strife, it was a indication of particular sects. 'Yerba mate becomes a major import commodity in Syria'

On 8 December 2019, the Central Bank of Syria included mate in the list of basic commodities supported for import. This underlines its significance in Syria as Syria is considered the world’s largest mate importer.

Syria received 34.5 thousand tons of mate from Argentina in 2018, according to the National Institution of Argentine Yerba Mate (INYM), from which Syria imports 99.7 percent of its mate annually.

Those figures were “historical” in Argentina, according to the Buenos Aires Times, Argentina’s only English-language newspaper. https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2020/01/interesting-...

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

#156
There is some weird thing about it in my country, pre-war,'Yerba mate becomes a major import commodity

On 8 December 2019, the Central Bank of Syria included mate in the list of basic commodities supported for import. This underlines its significance in Syria as Syria is considered the world’s largest mate importer.

Syria received 34.5 thousand tons of mate from Argentina in 2018, according to the National Institution of Argentine Yerba Mate (INYM), from which Syria imports 99.7 percent of its mate annually.

Those figures were “historical” in Argentina, according to the Buenos Aires Times, Argentina’s only English-language newspaper.

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

#157
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's probably 80% preparation and 20% acquired taste. Few people enjoy coffee when they first try it. Mate is also very easy to overextract and become extremely bitter if not prepared with caution and the correct technique.

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

#158
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My reading of that literature is that there isn't a lot of evidence one way or another. However , last time I looked at it it seemed like the most likely cause was from how some mates are smoked, and that unsmoked mate didn't have the same cancer risk. Take this with a grain of salt though, because although I followed that pretty closely for awhile, I stopped at some point and it's been a couple of years since.

Any source of what brands/varieties are smoked vs not? I’m able to get quite a few types imported from South America, but from my attempts at translating the packaging and trying to Google things, I can’t tell what’s smoked or unsmoked.

Argentinian mate is traditionally smoked so most brands you will find are of the smoked variety. The brazilian version, chimarrão, is traditionally not smoked, so you might start by looking for that.

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

#159
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I drink coffee daily and don't experience any crash. I do drink water between sips so that may affect my experience. Many blog posts online claim this practice helps to avoid crashing. I like the taste of Yerba Mate but I find it makes me feel weird a lot of the time.

I started drinking Mate later in life, and definitely recall it sitting weirdly in my stomach at first. You might want to try drinking it in smaller concentrations? i.e. steeping for less time, with a smaller quantity of "tea". A random theory, but since the chemical profile of Mate is quite different from coffee, it might be your body going through selective withdrawal from coffee that's producing the "weird" effect…

The chemical profiles are different (hence they taste different) but the addictive component is still regular ol' caffeine.

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

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some parts of Europe (especially Germany/Austria in my experience) you can find soda drinks such as "Club Mate". I like the taste as it's sweteened but not excessively.

> Club-Mate has developed a following in computer hacker culture and tech start-ups, especially in Europe. ― https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club-Mate#Hacker_culture I also like Tschunk, a caipirinha-like cocktail made with Club-Mate, rum, brown sugar, and limes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club-Mate#Tschunk

Yeah you made me remember tschunk, I liked it!!

Beside hacker culture it's also quite common in the clubbing scene. I also like to mix it with vodka, it's simple and works pretty well.

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