Yerba mate, drug epidemic.

[TheFury]

I love mate!! I love the way it's so sustainable to cultivate. Not only does it prevent deforestation because it can be grown in the shade; it also gives a nice kick to farmers' incomes because they can use their land for two things at once, i.e. tree fruit and yerba mate. An all around benevolent crop!

I also like the effect it has on me. While coffee contains a cocktail of caffeine and muscle stimulant (hence the intense jitters you get after, say a pot or two... trust me I know...), yerba mate has a mix of caffeine and muscle relaxants. This gives you a nice alert but mellow feeling. Makes it a great study drug too!

I had never heard of the stuff before I took a trip to Argentina in late '09. Everyone around in Buenos Aires had these weird looking gourds with metal straws and they were passing them around like peace pipes. Then when I was in Iguazu, my friend and I hung out with this shop keep in a random souvenir store on a dirt road. He made us mate in his own gourd and taught us all the associated etiquette. I came back to the US with two kilos of his favorite brand and two gourds. The ritual of drinking mate is half the fun, too!

[larry]

Sounds interesting, will have to try some.
Can this plant be easily grown?

[Raven01000]

I drink a tea form of Yerba Mate. I like to drink it when I have a headache; it always seems to make me feel better. That thick infusion you've got there looks kind of scary, but if it tastes anything like the tea I bet it's awesome. I'll have to try it some time.

I wonder--Do you have to drink it out of a gourd?

[TheFury]

You could probably also use those metal loose tea baskets and refill the with every cup. Or just use some sort of metal straw with a filter and any regular mug or glass. The thing about mate is that it's traditionally drunk very strong, which means using lots of leaves. I fill my gourd up about 1/3 full of leaves, drink it down, add more water, etc. The first gourd full really puckers the face, but after the 2nd or 3rd refill the tea is a bit weaker and oh so delicious. I describe it as a sort of smoky green tea taste.

[Lucanidae]

So, what's the gourd do for the tea? What's the purpose?

[Exo]

.............What exactly is Yerba Mate?.....and what exactly does it do?.....I did some research on it and I got more hippie mumbo jumbo than facts.....I am corn-fuzed.

[swords]

It's essentially considered "Paraguayan Tea" drank as a coffee substitute, it's drank cool or luke warm, hot makes it bitter and nasty and you have to add sugar if you mix it up hot. The gourd is just the traditional cup that it's shared out of you could certainly use a coffee cup. I carved a pair of gourds just to let someone have their own cup if they visit and wanna partake in some. The metal straw's are needed since it has a filter on one end so you don't suck up the broken leaves and twigs. A kilo bag of it looks like a sack of hedge clippings! LOL

They do sell Yerba Mate powdered in tea bags too if you don't wanna go native but it's more thrilling doing it the traditional way.

[TheFury]

I believe Yerba mate is a plant in the same family as the holly bush.