Yerba mate 100 grams: dried leaf of Ilex paraguariensis
Yerba mate comes from a holly. Ilex paraguariensis starts life as a shrub and matures into a tree of up to fifteen metres, carrying evergreen, serrated leaves that run from seven to well over a hundred millimetres long and three to five and a half centimetres wide. The species belongs to South America, with Paraguay at its heart; the Guaraní and Tupi peoples were the first to cultivate it, in Amambay and Alto Paraná among other places. Brazil now accounts for just over half of world production, followed by Argentina and Paraguay.
After harvest the branches are traditionally dried over a wood fire, which is where the faintly smoky note comes from. The leaf is naturally caffeinated, roughly 0.7 to 1.7 percent of dry weight, and also contains theobromine and theophylline. Spanish speakers call it yerba mate, Brazilians erva-mate, and in Guaraní it is ka'a, simply meaning herb. Choose the powder here and you get finely milled material that passes through quickly; the cut leaf is coarser and holds up better behind a bombilla.
Preparing mate
Traditionally you fill a gourd half to three quarters full, tilt it so the coarser stems form a small wall, and slide the bombilla in along the low side. Pour over hot water at roughly 70 to 85 degrees Celsius, warm but never boiling. The same filling can be topped up several times until the taste washes out. Without a gourd, simply brew the leaf in a filter or teapot; prepared cold with ice water and a squeeze of lemon or fruit juice, the drink is known as tereré.
Storage and things to know
Keep the bag well sealed in a cool, dry and dark place, ideally in an airtight jar, so the aroma stays put, and store it out of reach of children. Because of the caffeine, most people drink mate during the day rather than just before bed. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or taking medication, talk to your doctor first. This herb is sold as a botanical product, not as a medicine. The same category at Avalon Magic Plants also holds Gotu Kola, Acorus calamus, Sutherlandia frutescens and Voacanga africana. Every order leaves the building in discreet packaging.
