Why Drink Yerba From a Mate?
There is a beauty, a certain calmness that occurs when you drink yerba mate. The benefits are not only from the nutrients the leaves release but also from the experience of drinking from a mate. A mate is a cup into which the yerba tea is poured and it is accompanied by a bombilla which is a stainless steel strainer or diffusor straw from which the warm tea is sipped.
People have noticed the unique shape of the mates. If you look at a mate from the side, you will notice that it is wider in the center and at some point toward the top, it will “pinch” in. The reason for this is because when you add water to the Yerba (the loose leaf herbal tea) the leaves inflate or expand. When that happens, the shape of the mate then compresses the leaves around the bombilla to create a kind of suction. By doing this, you are essentially controlling the release of the nutrients from the herbs and creating a kind of seal around the bottom of the straw strainer so that you aren’t clogging the holes.
If you drink from a natural mate made from a gourd or wood, it will add to the flavor of the yerba. When you consistently use a natural mate, you are curing it and infusing flavors into the next pour. This happens in particular when you add orange rinds, cinnamon sticks or coconut sugar to your mate.
Do you want to learn more about the benefits of Yerba Mate? Please visit "Yerba Mate 101" on our website .