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Yerba mate is a caffeinated herbal tea from South America. The loose leaves are traditionally brewed and sipped through a filter-tipped straw called a bombilla, but can also be prepared like coffee or tea. It has become a common ingredient in energy drinks.
It has an earthy, grassy flavor, often described as a cross between green tea and coffee.
Yerba mate provides balanced stimulation with a unique combination of three types of caffeine—the ones found in coffee, tea, and chocolate. This blog post dives into more detail.
One tea bag yields around 25 mg of caffeine—about as strong as green tea.
A tablespoon of loose yerba mate yields around 60 mg—like half a cup of coffee.
One mate gourd yields up to 500 mg—it's best to share!
Note: our pure leaf yerba mate contains around 15 mg more caffeine per tablespoon than our leaf/stem yerba mate.
Explore this topic in greater detail here.
Short answer: no. Early advocates for yerba mate struggled to explain why the stimulation in yerba mate felt so physical and uplifting, so they figured the "active molecule" must be somehow unique. They coined the word mateine to describe this phantom molecule. We now know that yerba mate's boost comes from a combination of nutrition and caffeine, producing an "entourage effect" of a less jittery, longer-lasting boost.
Yerba mate can help boost metabolism and curb appetite, and is most effective when paired with a healthy diet and exercise.
While yerba mate is so much more than a "coffee alternative," many people with coffee sensitivities do transition to yerba mate for smoother energy.
With adequate hydration and blood sugar levels, most people don't experience jitters with yerba mate. The caffeine in mate provides gentle, sustained energy without the spikes and crashes often associated with coffee.
Moderate daily consumption (1-3 cups) is generally considered safe for healthy adults.
Yerba mate won't cause bad breath. Its high polyphenol content may actually help suppress bacterial growth. Just remember to also drink plenty of good old H2O!
Mate has an average pH of around 5.5, which is less acidic than coffee's average pH of 5.
You can prepare yerba mate like any other tea or coffee, or sip it through a filter straw called a bombilla. Learn more about preparation methods here.
A bombilla (pronounced bom-bee-ya) is a straw with a filtered bottom that allows you to sip mate without consuming the leaves in the cup.
Tereré is the traditional cold-brewed version of yerba mate. Often shared among friends and family after siesta in the tropics, it is prepared by pouring ice-cold limeade into a small cup full of loose yerba mate, then sipped through a bombilla.
Boiling water degrades beneficial compounds and causes a bitter taste. The ideal temperature is between 150°F and 170°F—when most tea pots start to tremble, but not yet steam.
Moistening dry yerba mate with cool water softens the herb and prevents it from growing bitter when hot water is added.
Yes! When drinking yerba mate traditional-style, the leaves can be re-steeped multiple times (often filling the gourd 10+ times) until the flavor washes out. Smaller pours make the herb last longer.
With love, patience, and a 48-hour soak. Fill the hollow gourd halfway with loose yerba mate, top it off with hot water, and let it sit for 24 hours. Empty the gourd, scrape out the soft inner pulp with a spoon, and repeat the process one more time. Once rinsed and fully dried, your gourd is seasoned, sealed, and ready to use! Please note that gourds will stain black inside from repeated use—this is not mold, just oxidized yerba mate. Never use soap to clean. Any flavorings added to the gourd will be absorbed by the fibers and remain present in subsequent uses. Gourds can tend to split over time. To reduce this tendency, allow them to dry out after each use. We recommend storing them on a sunny windowsill.
Pure leaf yerba mate is slightly stronger, with a bright flavor. It is also more expensive, as it uses less of the harvest. Leaf/stem yerba mate has a suave, woody taste. Both forms work great in a French press or tea pot, while the leaf/stem yerba mate is especially suited for use with a bombilla. You can read this blog post for more info.
Our tea bags consist of oxygen-bleached manila hemp fibers withy a compostable plant-based bioplastic for heat-sealing.
The filter paper of our tea bags is made from 100% plant-based materials with no dyes or glues, and is bleached with oxygen. Compost away!
Our family farm partners use a warm-air drying process to maintain a clean, green flavor profile. Many traditional methods use direct wood smoke, which can alter the flavor and introduce unwanted compounds. You can read more here.
In Spanish, there's no accent over the "e" in mate. Some English speakers place an accent there to emphasise the correct pronunciation (mah-tay). But in Spanish, the phrase "yerba maté" translates as "I killed the herb." True story.
Yerba is the Spanish word for "herb."
Mate comes from the Guaraní word mati, which means "cup."
So the phrase yerba mate translates as "the herb of the cup."
Our organic farm partners don't use chemical herbicides, requiring more manual labor to clear out the malesas (weeds). Also, paying our workers fair wages is integral to our mission.
Here's a small sampling of the growing body of literature on yerba mate's benefits: