Do you drink Yerba Mate Tea?

It is made from a Tea called Yerba which is served in a cup called a Mate which is the husk of a fruit gourd.

Drinking loose leaf tea in this way would conventionally call for a strainer or a tea ball and for this purpose the clever people invented a bombilla which is a straw with a sieve at the end which you put in the cup with the herbal tea and drink from.

The water you use for Yerba must not be boiling and most people recommend that it should be the same temperature as that of a coffee filter machine which heats the water to well below boiling.

With a distinctive smoky flavour, this drink can be mixed with other herbs to make a wonderful refreshing drink too and pre made Yerba can be purchased with added ingredients the list is extensive, such as herbs, vitamins, fruits etc.

Yerba is an amazingly flexible drink, you can even use cold water with ice in it and flavoured with lemon and orange juice and zest.

Sugar is normally added whether it is drunk hot or cold as the flavour does take a little getting used to to western palette's, and the South Americans generally have a sweet tooth too, so its purely a matter of personal choice.

The main choice is whether you want to buy it with or without stems. Without stems is generally stronger as they dilute the drink making it more suitable for beginners or just for personal taste.

You can now get Yerba in tea bags which is an alternative to the bombilla and mate gourd, but most agree that you do not get the same experience of flavor if you do it in this way.

You can also put it in a French press.

A thermos is always on hand for true Yerba mate drinkers and then you can top up your gourd at any time and slurp slurp slurp your way to better health through hydration.