This new South American drink is taking Australia by storm! Yerba Mate it is a refreshing drink often enjoyed in preference to tea and coffee. This South American drink is traditionally enjoyed with friends and is claimed to have a range of health benefits. A great way to keep you full of energy all day long!
Among South Americans, the natural use of Mate for healthful purposes has persisted. They use it to boost immunity, cleanse and detoxify the blood, tone the nervous system, restore youthful hair color, retard aging, combat fatigue, stimulate the mind, control the appetite, reduce the effects of debilitating disease, reduce stress, and eliminate insomnia.
Mate is more than just good for the body; it's good for the soul. Drinking it can be a form of meditation or reflection - allowing the goodness to infuse into the body while stimulating and resting the mind. Those who share the Mate cup join in a ind of bond where the sharing of the health and meditation of the Yerba Mate is a sign of total acceptance and friendship.
To prepare the Maté infusion, the dried minced leaves of the Yerba Maté are placed inside the Maté cup and hot water (approx. 70 C) is added. The infusion is sucked through a metal pipe called "bombilla," which has a strainer at its lower end to prevent the minced leaves from reaching the mouth. There are as many different techniques to prepare Maté as Maté drinkers, here is a fairly traditional method:
* Fill the Maté cup with Yerba Maté up to 3/4 of its capacity. A variation that will give you more tea per infusion and a less potent taste is to fill the Maté cup only half way, or even a little less than that.
* Pour some hot water in until it nearly fills the cup. Don't worry if some of the leaves remain dry, floating on the top. They will eventually absorb water in subsequent infusions.
* Let it stand a few seconds and replenish with hot water when the previous one is absorbed by the dry Maté leaves.
* When the water is not absorbed anymore, close the bombilla's "mouthpiece" with your thumb and insert it firmly into the Mate.
Some people add sugar and/or some herbs (like mint, for example). You drink and replenish the Maté with hot water many times till the liquid comes out with almost no taste.
Enjoy! Although the first taste will be an unusual flavor for newcomers, it is a haunting taste that beckons you back time and time again. It's almost as if the body knows how good Maté is for you and calls out for you to take in more.
