View Full Version : yerba mate, first taste
Based on comments on this board, I got a gourd, silver straw and some yerba mate for about $30. To condition the gourd, you have to clean out the gourd and make tea in it once and let it sit overnight, then scrape out the gourd innard things and let it dry completely. Then you can make some tea.
There is a procedure for making the tea which is somewhat complicated, at least for the first time. I apparently didn't do it right because when I finally got the hot water in and took a sip, I was eating a lot of tea dust. But after letting it sit for a while it started working. You just keep topping it up with warm water from a thermos.
The flavor is kind of like Liptons tea that has been sitting with the teabag in it for a long time. It is not too bad, although I'm not sure I would say the flavor is pleasant. But after a while I got used to it and kind of like it.
I'm glad I tried it and will definitely drink it again soon. If it has half of the health benefits it is rumored to have, it is worth it. According to the nutrition facts on the bag, it has lots of iron, potassium and magnesium. It also says it has a lot of carbohydrate, fiber and protein, but that seems hard to belive when you are drinking a tea, not eating the stuff.
Dances with Mice
01-05-2006, 21:05
Based on comments on this board, I got a gourd, silver straw and some yerba mate for about $30. To condition the gourd, you have to clean out the gourd and make tea in it once and let it sit overnight, then scrape out the gourd innard things and let it dry completely. Then you can make some tea.
There is a procedure for making the tea which is somewhat complicated, at least for the first time. I apparently didn't do it right because when I finally got the hot water in and took a sip, I was eating a lot of tea dust. But after letting it sit for a while it started working. You just keep topping it up with warm water from a thermos.
The flavor is kind of like Liptons tea that has been sitting with the teabag in it for a long time. It is not too bad, although I'm not sure I would say the flavor is pleasant. But after a while I got used to it and kind of like it.
I'm glad I tried it and will definitely drink it again soon. If it has half of the health benefits it is rumored to have, it is worth it. According to the nutrition facts on the bag, it has lots of iron, potassium and magnesium. It also says it has a lot of carbohydrate, fiber and protein, but that seems hard to belive when you are drinking a tea, not eating the stuff.Dood! Wherendahell somebody say something about needing a gourd?! I'm a rather serious amateur gourd grower (kinda like I'm a rather serious amateur hiker, a rather serious amateur juggler, a rather serious amateur trail maintainer, a rather serious amateur lover, etc.) and if someone needed a gourd, if someone wanted a gourd, if somebody had ever ONCE mentioned gourds on Whiteblaze I would've been on it faster than a guinea hen on a june bug.
So. Who said anything about gourds?
Forget gourds. There's a reason Wal-Mart doesn't carry the Dances With Mice brand "Cooking Gourds" line of utensils. They impart a bitter taste, they're hard to clean, drop it once and it's kindling, and over time even carefully handled heirlooms will crack for no apparent reason.
But that's neither here nor there, the subject of your thread is mate'. It ain't complicated to brew: pour hot water over the leaves, steep, separate the solids from the liquid, then drink the liquid. One simple way to do that is with a French Press. The straw's even easier, unlike tea mate' doesn't get bitter if it over-steeps. It also doesn't taste bad cold, or hot, and you won't spew it out of your mouth if it's neither hot nor cold (Luke-warm, as the bible says).
But, hey, if you or anybody else wants to grow their own gourds, I have the following seeds for free, just PM for address to send a SASE: Apple gourds, Luffa gourds, Bushel gourds, and Dipper gourds.
Skidsteer
01-05-2006, 21:13
Dood! Wherendahell somebody say something about needing a gourd?! I'm a rather serious amateur gourd grower (kinda like I'm a rather serious amateur hiker, a rather serious amateur juggler, a rather serious amateur trail maintainer, a rather serious amateur lover, etc.) and if someone needed a gourd, if someone wanted a gourd, if somebody had ever ONCE mentioned gourds on Whiteblaze I would've been on it faster than a guinea hen on a june bug.
So. Who said anything about gourds?
Forget gourds. There's a reason Wal-Mart doesn't carry the Dances With Mice brand "Cooking Gourds" line of utensils. They impart a bitter taste, they're hard to clean, drop it once and it's kindling, and over time even carefully handled heirlooms will crack for no apparent reason.
But that's neither here nor there, the subject of your thread is mate'. It ain't complicated to brew: pour hot water over the leaves, steep, separate the solids from the liquid, then drink the liquid. One simple way to do that is with a French Press. The straw's even easier, unlike tea mate' doesn't get bitter if it over-steeps. It also doesn't taste bad cold, or hot, and you won't spew it out of your mouth if it's neither hot nor cold (Luke-warm, as the bible says).
But, hey, if you or anybody else wants to grow their own gourds, I have the following seeds for free, just PM for address to send a SASE: Apple gourds, Luffa gourds, Bushel gourds, and Dipper gourds.
You're a real piece of work, Dances.:jump :D
Oh, and BTW I think you're better than an amatuer juggler; Serious amatuer lover? You should refrain from positing as fact something we are unwilling to test!;) Regards,
smokymtnsteve
01-05-2006, 21:47
do U think dem gourds would grow in AK???
cause they lots of folks up hern dat is outa dar gourds!
Dances with Mice
01-05-2006, 23:06
do U think dem gourds would grow in AK??? cause they lots of folks up hern dat is outa dar gourds!With your long summer days and by getting an early start indoors, I'd give you a maybe on dippers and apple gourds, no way on bushels. But you can try luffas, if you have to pick them green then they are Chinese bitter melons, stir fry stuff. If they manage to ripen then they are bath sponges. So if you pick them before they're usable they're edible but if they aren't edible then they're usable. Follow that?
So. Who said anything about gourds?
There was a thread about what kind of cup you carry or something like that and I said that I bring my gourd and bombilla to make mate. I have been drinking the mate for over a year now and I love this stuff. I bring it everywhere I go. In regards to getting leaves and tea dust in the tea when you drink it...that could have to do with the size of the filter holes in the bombilla. I found if you don't stir the mate around with your bombilla then you won't get as much tea dust.
I think the tea has to be wet before you put the bombilla in, then it doesn't get as much dust in it. The effects of mate are kind of nice, it picks you up but doesnt make you edgy or irritable. Definitely an energy drink.
My husband has been drinking Yerba mate royale (with honeyleaf) for years with a bombilla. Tea bags are available too, but those only go on trips. He does not use a "gourd" but an extra large thermos insulated cup (32+ oz) and sips all day long. I personally like the flavor but don't like metal to suck on. I will say since drinking mate, his terrible hay fever in the fall has pretty much disappeared. I did notice, if left for a day or two it begins to ferment so IMO is great for the septic system as well. 'nuff said.
*** is Yerba?
Yerba Mate has been popular in South America for years now. The tea give s a caffiene buzz that lasts longer and more mellow than coffee.
It is just starting to make its way over to the US (in terms of being mass marketed) in the past two years.
One our customers here in Boulder markets it as a mater of fact. (With some American tea as well).
Me? I'll stick to coffee...
Wow, this yerba stuff is awesome. Last night I drank some and couldn't sleep, just laid there a while. Then the full moon peeked through the clouds and all of a sudden I grew hair all over my body and my teeth and claws got really long, and I ran through the woods all night searching for blood. Gotta love this South American stuff.
Dances with Mice
01-07-2006, 23:26
Wow, this yerba stuff is awesome. Last night I drank some and couldn't sleep, just laid there a while. Then the full moon peeked through the clouds and all of a sudden I grew hair all over my body and my teeth and claws got really long, and I ran through the woods all night searching for blood. Gotta love this South American stuff.Must be the gourd...what kind were you using?
Must be the gourd...what kind were you using?
A South American gourd.
...you just got to love this site. LOL
I asked my friend in South America to send me some Yerba and it just arrived. Apparently once you chip it off the big brick you crush it up and inhale it through the nose. This stuff is expensive, too.