yerba mate - looking for a few facts

On 21 Oct 2003, pgluth1 posted the following to rec.food.drink.tea:

There has been a lot of conversation on the topic, but that works to your advantage. The following link takes you to Google's archive and searches on the word "yerba". Be sure to read through the threads and not just the individual articles. Some threads appear to focus only on where to find it but also include discussions of caffiene content.

Derek

Thank you for your quick response to my query - it answered my questions.

However, let me thank you again for showing me the way to search google for more answers - "teach a man to fish..."

It was a dark and stormy night when pgluth1 stepped out of the alley onto "rec.food.drink.tea" and cried out:

No problem. I figured others have answered it far better than I could, and I wasn't going to do them a disservice by doing a hackjob on their posts.

Fish? Somebody went fishing and didn't tell me? Dang it. I would've bought the beer. ;)

Google's "Groups" archive is a good thing that many people don't seem to know about. Glad to have helped point the way.

Not that I'm opposed to questions being repeated in the newsgroup - I just remembered that we'd had this particular discussion recently and knew where to find a record of it.

Derek

This is so ironic. I just came to this thread because I was browsing Google Groups for Yerba Mate.

Your original post is dated October 21, and that happens to have been the day my much-awaited first shipment made it here (Florida) from Oregon via UPS.

It's my third evening drinking mate, and my first with my gourd (which has to be seasoned for a couple of days, according to the instructions which accompanied it).

I wasn't so sure the first night, but by now I can say I really like it. It's probably still a little early to be singing its praises, but it seems to make me feel good, so up and yet "clear". No jitters at all.

I'm drinking it using the bombilla (filter straw). I just used a coffee cup the first two nights (in lieu of the gourd). I got the bamboo straw, but I went ahead and ordered a "traditional spoon-shaped" metal bombilla earlier this evening--along with more mate. I guess you could say I like it :O)

I can't particularly plug the company I got it from; I'm so new with it. It could be I can get it cheaper at a health-food store around town. Having said that, I *did* do a little site-shopping before I ordered, and I wound up buying from

I bought the "La Tierra Gift Pack", which is the least expensive, the bamboo bombilla, a half-pound of loose yerba mate, and a plain (pretty small) gourd. Twelve bucks US, and seven more for shipping. You can probably do better, but I can say they shipped it out right away and didn't rip me off (it took nine days to get here, though... but it seems to have been worth the wait).

Wherever you get it, do try it. Apparently it's not for everyone (one person reported getting eye tics after a week's use), but I can't wait to share it with my friends (I've already offered to a couple, but they passed ). Which reminds me--one of them wants to try it, but she's having surgery tomorrow, and so needs to be cautious. And I'm glad she did wait, because she's *very* sensitive to ginseng--and I don't know but that she might be to mate, too. So my advice is, just try a little at first, to make sure you're not allergic or anything (good advice for trying anything new, and probably something I didn't need to tell you).

Er--I don't usually write this much. Can't be the mate, can it? ;O)

It was a dark and stormy night when fLameDogg stepped out of the alley onto "rec.food.drink.tea" and cried out:

No, if the mate were affecting your writing, it'd be incoherent and lack a logical flow.

Kind of like term papers written at 2:00 in the morning with the "benefit" of Jolt Cola.

Derek

Derek wrote in news:Xns941E5A44FD2CCdagwinn@130.133.1.4:

Okay, well, thanks for that :O)

Hehe :O)

Just got my first order of yerba mate from stash.com. Can't comment on the quality because I have nothing to compare it too. I have not purchased the proper equipment and have made a few pots in a french press. My order was processed quickly and it was 3.5 days from the time I ordered the tea and when it arrived on my doorstep.

I drink more than my share of caffeinated beverages in the course of a day

- strong African coffees, rich Asian teas, tempered with the occasional rooibos or green tea. Frankly, I do not notice any caffeine-like effects, probably because my tolerance is so high. Pleasant, leafy flavor, but with the cooler water brewing, it is also quite smooth in texture. I can say it falls into that "acquired taste" category and I will report back after I have had some more experience.

pgluth1 wrote in news:Xns941F8D2516FC9pgluth1@216.148.227.77:

Like you, I've only tried it from one place. I found some for a better price elsewhere, so I'll probably buy some and compare.

I've only done the infusion/bombilla thing, but I am looking at a small French press for myself.

Yep, all of that is consonant with what I've found. Though I've read that some people pooh-pooh the difference between "mateine" and caffiene, I really loaded up on it last night, and noticed only a clear, light buzz at most--no jitters whatsoever.

I have to admit curiosity as to Mate. I've tried Celestial Seasonings "Rolling Thunder" which contains Yerba Mate, but can't handle it at all. It makes me intensely sick to my stomach. On the other hand, I can drink coffee on top of No-Doze (don't ask...it was a *very* bad day at work once!) without any stomach upset at all. I tried the CS version twice, the first time on an empty stomach and then tried it (after I got my nerve back up) again after having eaten with the same effect. So, a sensitivity to Mate, to something else in their blend (I can't recall off the top of my head what else was in there) or....???

B. Kildow

Yow! That's a pretty strong stomach, it seems to me. I would be very cautious myself. Like my friend who can't tolerate ginseng at all, I have a couple of food allergies. One of them is fairly mild, but the other could possibly be lethal--I've only brushed up against that substance once, and it's fortunately not common. The one that only causes discomfort is peanuts, and it's hard not to encounter them from time to time. I'm lucky the situation isn't reversed--I only found out a couple of years ago that some people are indeed allergic enough to peanuts that it could kill them.

Not saying what you have is an allergy, but it's the thing to watch out for, I think.

I'm guessing you're referring to CS "Morning Thunder". According to their Web site, it only contains "Roasted maté and black tea." I'd say beware. Of course, the acid test would be to obtain a small amount of mate and try just a tiny bit by itself, but based on the above, I'm not sure it would be worth it to you.

I guess you could have also gotten a bad batch of tea.