The Tea Blog

Yerba mate is from South America and is most popular in Argentina. The word “Mate” is the Spanish word for “Gourd”, and it has been nicknamed the “liquid vegetable”. Yerba mate has thick leaves that are used medicinally and as a natural refreshing tea beverage. Mate is a healthy and stimulating drink. Mate’s caffeine level is more equal to coffee. It has the caffeine and theobromine, a well-known stimulant found in chocolate. Yerba mate is high in Vitamin C and is high in antioxidants.

Mate is commonly served in a small gourd cup, the traditional serving method throughout South America. It is served with a metal drinking straw or tube, called a “Bombilla” and has a filter attached to the lower end to strain the leaves. Mate can be prepared in a variety of ways, from a tea infuser or French press to a coffee machine, even an espresso maker. It can consumed hot or cold and can be served with milk and honey or ice with lemon, or if you want you can add mint. Mate has recently become more popular in the US.

I recently got a chance to taste mate tea. It has a bitter, pungent taste due to the high tannin content of the leaves. It is somewhat earthy, not completely like aged green tea. I typically steep tea in a personal tea bag or infuser with one tea spoon full of tea. But when I make mate, I put less tea into my cup to avoid the bitter strong taste. It doesn’t take long time to steep the tea. You have to boil the water up to 208 degrees and leave it to steep for three to six minutes. My opinion is this tea is great for morning or daytime.

It is possible to buy 1lb of mate at local health stores or tea shops for less than $15. It is less expensive than brand name coffee.

Studies have shown that mate is powerful when it comes to weight loss. Basically, it makes you feel full longer and slows your digestion. Not only does mate supply many nutrients that help your heart, it also increases the supply of oxygen to the heart, especially when people are stressed. Scientific studies have proved that mate has anti cancer effects. It has also been shown to be highly toxic to cancer cells, more than green tea.

The Wild Throneberry’s is one of my favorite cartoon shows, and recently one of the episodes show the father and the mother drinking mate.

Caffeine Content of Tea and Coffee

• Brewed (7 oz) = 80-135mg
• Decaf, brewed (6 oz) = 5mg
• Espresso (1.5-2 oz) = 100mg
• Tea, black (6 oz) = 70mg
• Tea, green (6 oz) = 35mg
• Tea, instant (7 oz) = 30mg
• Yerba mate, (10 g dried, loose) = 30mg
• Yerba mate, (3 g teabag) = 10-24mg

If you want to brew mate and get the experience at home, I suggest starting with the flavored blends or good quality un-blended mate. If you like to drink something already brewed there are few to try: Mate sencha shot,Tropical Mate, or sublime mate from honest tea. Beer lovers here is a good news - there are some beers brewed with mate” “MateVeza yerba Mate black Lager”.

Like any food or drink you can use mate for your drink in many different ways. Here I found few recipes to make the mate drink fabulous.

Vegan Mate latte:

Ingredients:

4-5 Oz of water 3-4 t.spoons of soy milk/coconut milk/rice milk 1 t.spoon of loose-leaf yerba mate/ two yerba mate tea bags honey/sugar to taste

Preparation:

Combine the water and the milk/other milk substitute. Put the mate into infuser and brew the tea. Pour the liquid out after steeping 4-5 minutes( all depend on how strong you want your tea). Add the sugar/ honey to taste. Stir with a spoon and enjoy.

Good for one serving.

This cast iron teapot looks really nice. Cast iron pots are good for oolong tea and green tea, so if you like those, you might like to buy one of these.

The benefits of a cast iron teapot includes the ability to retain the heat of the boiled water. If you have a glass teapot, you could instead buy a Now Designs Tea Cozy, Rosette. That will help keep your tea warm while you drink it.

As mentioned, there are cast iron teapots, as well as glass teapots, and ceramic, too. The right type of teapot depends upon your individual needs, but you may like to know that cast iron teapots retain some of the flavor of the tea served in it, so it might make sense to only use one type of tea with it.

Rooibos tea is also called red tea or bush tea. It is categorized as an Herbal tea and originates from South Africa - the only place that grows this tea bush. This tea is famous among South Africans but now it is picking up in the US market. It is famous among health conscious people because it contains no caffeine and is rich in vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C, iron, and calcium.

How we drink Roiboos -

South Africans drink this tea without milk, but it can be prepared the same way as black tea. You can use honey or sugar to sweeten the roiboos tea, but it is a naturally sweet tea. This is a great ice tea too. I got a chance to drink hot roiboos tea infused with mixed berry. I can say I really like the taste and for me its like mild black tea with fruit flavor; absolutely delicious.

What are the benefits of drinking Roiboos -

This tea is high of antioxidant and minerals. Some of the purported health benefits include:

• Cancer prevention
• Reduced headaches, insomnia and irritability
• Increased immune function
• Stronger teeth and bones

Try some Roiboose tea today!

I recently tried oolong tea for the first time recently - so delicious! I tried “milk oolong” which is incredibly smooth and subtly sweet.

It originates from China, and undergoes a fermentation process before getting twisted and curled.

I just ordered some Hampstead Organic Oolong Loose Tea, I hope its as good as the milk oolong I tried! It wasn’t too expensive - and I recently learned that with loose tea, its easier to brew multiple batches of tea.

Its possible to do that with coffee too, but for some reason it seems more appropriate with tea. I like that some people say they like the third or fourth brew better than the first. I guess that is especially true when it comes to oolong tea.

For what its worth, my girlfriend’s favorite tea is the “milk oolong”. Its really delicious, but I need to try some other oolong teas to decide which one is my favorite.

I’ve always been keen on re-usable containers, so I have used Nalgene containers for awhile, but recently I’ve been more keen on using glass containers.

I’ve also been trying to drink more tea, and less coffee, but I still definitely like coffee.

I just bought this tea travel mug, but I’ll probably use it mostly for ice water.