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Answers Regarding Yerba Mate:
What is yerba mate?
Yerba mate is an indigenous herb that only grows in Uruguay, Paraguay, Southern Brazil, and Northern Argentina. It is It is brewed from the dried leaves and stems of the Yerba Mate tree (Ilex Paraguarensis). Some of the common names are Paraguayan tea or Jesuit tea. Click here for complete answer.
What are Yerba Mate’s health benefits?
There are many health benefits from drinking Yerba mate.
Yerba Mate is a stimulant that acts on your smooth muscles without jitteriness. It induces mental clarity and It is not habit forming as many caffeine drinks are. Yerba Mate has been known to boost and stimulate the immune system.
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What is terere?
Tereré is an infusion of yerba mate, similar to mate but prepared with cold water or fruit juices instead of hot water. It is a very refreshing option on hot summer days.
It originated in Paraguay and now it is popular in northeastern Argentina and southern Brazil. The Guarani people call this infusion ka'ay, where ka'a means herb and y means water.
The majority of people in Paraguay make their Tereré with water and other herbs such as mint and Lemongrass. Click here for complete answer.
How do I checkout with Amazon Payments?
Once you select and place the items you want to purchase in your Cart, you will see the Pay with Amazon icon inside the cart. You can view the cart by clicking highlighted "View your Cart" in the items page (photo #1) or by using the down arrow next to the paddlock with the items in your cart (photo #2) and clicking view cart and checkout.. Click here for complete answer.
I just receive my yerba mate and the consume by date has expired?
This is an interesting observation. We have come across this question before.
We take great care not to buy any products that have expired or have an expiration dates that is less than 6 months, preferably a year from the purchase date. We will not ship the product if in our estimation can not be consumed before the expiration date.
We need to point out that our products are imported from countires that use a different date convention or format than what we are accustomed to.
In South America like in Europe they use a different date convention or format. In North America particularly in the United States and Canada we use the month, day, year format (mm/dd/yy or mm/dd/yyyy). Click here for complete answer.
Is Yerba Mate smoked with wood?
The traditional method of drying Yerba Mate was with wood placed in a large chimney. More modern methods are used today for most Yerba Mates including a large tube shaped oven to bake the leaves. Some companies such as Rosamonte still use the traditional wood drying method for one or more flavors of their Yerba Mate. It is dried with very hard wood. Click here for complete answer.
Why shouldn’t I boil my water for Yerba Mate?
Boiling the water for Yerba Mate is said to cause the leaves to burn thereby making them bitter. It can also be harmful to the person drinking Yerba Mate through the bombilla if it is too hot, causing burns to the mouth and esophagus. Click here for complete answer.
Is Yerba Mate a weight loss tea?
It is our experience that yerba mate regulates metabolism, it helps in digestion and keeps many drinkers regular. From our observations we know that it helps to control cravings and that may be the one element that many drinkers like about yerba mate in their daily diets. Click here for complete answer.
Does Yerba Mate contain caffeine?
Yerba mate contains a variant of caffeine called mateine. Mateine is a mild stimulant that does not alter sleep patterns or causes nervous jitters. Long time users like the stimulant properties because they do not posses the caffeine let down associated with coffee and other caffeinated drinks. Click here for complete answer.
Does Yerba Mate contain vitamins?
Yes it does, in fact, Yerba Mate contains 196 active compounds. Studies have shown that Yerba Mate contains most of the B vitamins in trace amounts and higher quantities of B1, B2, B3 and B5. It also has Vitamins A, C, and E. Yerba Mate also has Potassuim, Magnesium, Iron, Phosphorus, Calcium Pantothenate, and Selenium. Yerba Mate is also rich in other minerals such as Calcium, Manganese, Silicon.
Yerba Mate has 15 different amino acids including cystine, histidine, isoleucine, methionine, tryptophan, aspartic acid and tyrosine. Fatty acids in Yerba Mate are palmitoleic, stearic, oleic and lonoleic (primary Omega 6 oils) and a variety of triterpines and sterols. Yerba Mate also contains Chlorophyll, which is helpful in blood regeneration and organ detoxification. Click here for complete answer.
Do you sell organic yerba mate?
We sell Organic yerba mate as defined by the USDA. Not all of the yerba mate that we sell has been certified USDA Organic.
La Merced Organic yerba is 100% organic.
Other brands that we sell do not have USDA Organic Certification.
The reasons for that are many. One of them is some Latin American countries do not recognize the USDA as a certifying body, another one is they are not interested in having the yerba mate certified.
The majority of the growers do not use pesticides or herbicides because there are not many pests that attack the yerba mate plantations. That being said, I spoke with many Argentine and Paraguayan consumers who did not express any concerns in regards to the certification process. Materos who drink mate on a daily basis thought that the certification requirement was a North American aberration.
Many North American consumers who are concerned about the use of pesticides and herbicides are skeptical about the claims from manufacturers of the non-use of chemicals. Some of these companies have promised to address this issue with objective third party certification. Click here for complete answer.
Which yerba mate should I use?
If you plan to drink yerba mate in the traditional way (from a mate gourd and a bombilla bombilla) and this is your first experience drinking yerba mate, we recommend that you try a "Suave" blend. Suave blends are mild and not too strong. If you would like a variety of flavors we recommend trying one of the variety packs that has the orange, lemon or grapefruit flavored yerbas.
CBSe and Cachamate make nice blends of Hierbas Serranas (mountain herbs) and Cruz de Malta makes a unique Anise flavored mate.
There are many different yerba mate teas, as you start drinking and enjoying the various tastes you will develop your own preference and your own list of favorites.
If you are an experienced drinker you will find a variety of well-known brands to satisfy you discerning tastes. Click here for complete answer.
Does yerba mate come in tea bags?
Several manufacturers are selling yerba mate in tea bags. We have Taragui brand of yerba mate in tea bags. If you live an active life now you can have your yerba mate in just 5 minutes. We will be adding more brands of tea bags shortly. Click here for complete answer.
Can I use my drip type percolator or a French press machine to infuse my yerba mate?
Canarias yerba mate or any of the despalada (leaf only) styles yerba mates are good for this type of infusions.
You can use a drip type coffe maker to infuse your yerba mate just like you would with regular ground coffee. Regular papers filters work just fine. French Presses can also be used. They allow you to control how strong your infusion is. Any yerba mate without stems can be used in a French Press with success. Click here for complete answer.
What is the best way to store yerba mate?
It is best to store your yerba mate in a cool and dry place. It should not be stored where it can absorb moisture. It should not be stored in the freezer.
A simple glass jar on the pantry shelf is fine. The manufacturer bag is good enough if you drink your yerba mate quickly. Click here for complete answer.
What is a bombilla?
The word bombilla comes from the Portuguese word for bulb (bombi). It has a strainer at the bottom that resembles a bulb. The strainer keeps the Yerba Mate from being swallowed while drinking from the bombilla. It comes in many different materials beginning with the traditional cane or bamboo one to nickel-plated, Alpaca Silver and fine silver or stainless steel. All are acceptable depending on you personal preference. Many people have more than one bombilla for different uses such as for guests, at work, family, etc. Click here for complete answer.
What is the best bombilla?
There are several styles of bombillas that we sell. The yerba mate tea filters are called bombillas (pronounced bohm-bee-juz or bohm-bee-lee-us).
The traditional bombilla with the bulb that you can remove and clean is great. It has a threaded coupling that the bulb threads into. The new spring loaded types are convenient in that all you do is pull the spring-loaded cover and slide it to a side to clean. We can recommend either option. They will provide years of good service. Traditional bombillas include the bamboo style and the nickel-plated material along with alpaca silver and stainless steel. Click here for complete answer.
Do I need to do anything to my bombilla? What about cleaning?
We advise that you clean it well before you use it the first time to wash off any possible residues from the metal fabrication or any bit of metal that may remain. For the occasional cleaning to the inside of the bombilla, specially designed brushes can be used. Rinsing after every use is all that's necessary to keep your bombilla clean. If you choose a bamboo bombilla, rinsing and allowing it to air dry is necessary. Click here for complete answer.
Yerba Mate Gourds:
How Should I choose yerba mate gourd?
Pick one for the amount you would like to drink per sitting--or how many people you often entertain. A small 2-3oz. mate makes a great "personal" mate. A Brazilian cuia or gigante is just the thing for passing around with friends or at a party. The artisan 4-oz. just seem perfect for a couple... but these are just ideas. Mates come in a variety of materials including the traditional gourd, palo santo (iron wood), ceramic and glass. You may also choose to use a regular ceramic mug to drink your Yerba Mate from.
Drinking Yerba is a way of life; a ritual that changes in every moment, the way our lives change. It is all a matter of personal preference. You may choose an Artisan Mate to use for guests and a plain gourd for yourself. If you will be drinking Yerba Mate at work, you may like the ceramic style or the palo santo for the durability. Most Materos have more than one mate cup or gourd in use at any time depending on the circumstances, how many people will be drinking, where it will be used, etc. Click here for complete answer.
How should I clean my mate gourd?
When you have finished drinking your Yerba mate, you should gently remove the used Yerba with a spoon. After most of the used Yerba has been scooped out, rinse the gourd with warm water and pat dry with a paper towel. You can place it in a dish drainer or on the countertop where air can circulate through it in order to dry the inside.
Your mate gourd should never be washed in a dishwasher--and one should never use soap with it. You should never leave your mate gourds with wet yerba for long periods of time. With proper care and treatment, your gourd can last a long time. The longer you use your gourd, the more seasoned it will become; however, as much as we may be attached to any one of our mate gourds, the fact remains that gourds are organic and do not last forever. Click here for complete answer.
Yerba Mate's Popularity
As the popularity of yerba mate grows in the world we regularly get asked questions regarding the health benefit and safety risks of drinking Ilex Paraguariensis commonly known as yerba mate.
Yerba Mate grows naturally in the tropical forest of South America and through the use from the Guarani Indians who discovered the tree leaves benefits to the middle Eastern Immigrants who helped build the railroads and took the tea back home to Syria and Lebanon to modern city dwellers, they all found a healthy energy tea that uplifted their spirits. Click here for complete answer.
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