How to prepare Maté ?

Drunk as a ritual to stay in shape and to put you in a good mood, many people, including well-known sportsmen, swear by maté. This iconic Latin American drink is even more enjoyable when drunk in the traditional way in a calabash with a bombilla and shared with friends. Naturally energising and rich in minerals, this plant which is part of the holly family lends itself perfectly to being drunk iced. Follow our guide as we tell you all about maté and how to prepare it!

Stimulating and diuretic, “Yerba maté” combines these qualities*

Also known as “yerba mate” or “Paraguayan tea”, maté, whose botanical name is Ilex paraguariensis, is a drink made from the leaves of a South American species similar to holly. This tree, which can reach 15 metres in height, grows in the hot and humid climate of the forests of Paraguay, southern Brazil and Argentina.

Maté is a popular alternative to coffee. It’s rich in caffeine and due to the chemical composition of the maté plant has a more gentle but prolonged effect than you get from coffee. In Latin America, it is an integral part of the daily diet, particularly enjoyed for its energising qualities and the fact that it’s full of vitamins and minerals. People drink it on their own throughout the day but it takes on a social dimension when shared according to a well-established ritual.

Preparing a traditional maté

To drink maté in the traditional way, you need two essential accessories: the maté pot, also called simply maté (a calabash) and the bombilla, a stainless steel or bamboo straw allowing you to drink while filtering the leaves.

Two days before: Cure your mate pot. This step consists of preparing your calabash for the maté infusion and improving its taste. Fill your maté pot ¾ full then pour in hot water to the brim. Leave it like this for 48 hours, filling it when the water no longer reaches the top. Empty the calabash and, using a small spoon, gently scrape away the impurities that come off the sides. Your mate pot is ready for use!

Step 1: Fill your maté pot ¾ full with Green Mate. Put the palm of your hand over the top and turn the maté pot several times so the fine particles of maté come to the surface and don’t block the bombilla.

Step 2: Gently tilt the calabash so the maté leaves form a heap on one side and place the bombilla on the empty side. Once positioned, the bombilla remains in place – it is not there to mix the maté, but to filter the infusion.

Step 3: Pour cold water into the empty side, up to halfway. The leaves will begin to expand and hydrate.

Step 4: Pour in simmering water (80°C), just around the bombilla up to three-quarters full, taking care to leave the top leaves dry, and then drink this first infusion which will be more bitter than those that follow.

Step 5: Repeat the process for as many times as there is still flavour in the infusion. With progressive infusions, the upper leaves will infuse in turn. The hint of bitterness (typical of the presence of caffeine) fades to give way to sweeter, vegetal and light tobacco flavours.

Traditionally, the person who prepares the maté is the one who refills it and passes it from hand to hand to his guests, each drinking from the same container with the same bombilla. Prepared in this way, the same maté can thus be used for ten infusions, or even more, until it is lavado (washed).

Step 6: Clean the maté. To do so, empty the maté (in the compost!), rinse the calebash well with lukewarm water and no soap and let it dry. The same goes for the bombilla. Maté is prepared in a calabash, a kind of dried and hollowed gourd that could crack or go mouldy and that would affect the taste of your maté. Its porous material retains some of the flavours, so it is better to infuse only natural maté or a single type of flavoured maté.

Using a mug or your usual teapot

For novices, not used to the hint of bitterness in Green Maté, flavoured or perfumed maté is a good place to start, and why not add a dash of agave syrup?
Red berry Maté, Spicy Maté or Lemonmaté, can all also be prepared in a mug or teapot. In this case, we advise you to stick to the measure of 2 grams/25 cl with water at 95°C for five minutes. For an infusion with less bitterness, brew at a lower temperature, at 80°C.

Recipe for Maté digest in a Mocktail

As is the tradition of the Mapuche people of southern Chile, where maté is often drunk with medicinal plants, the Maté digest combines maté, mint and liquorice. It has a zesty freshness and full flavour and qualities that are particularly welcome at the end of a meal (mint helps digestion and maté is a diuretic*).

The Mocktail recipe:

• Use three tablespoons of Maté Digest to half a litre of simmering water (75°C). Leave to infuse for five minutes and strain.
• Pour into a jug full of ice cubes and add a third as much organic lemonade with agave sirop.
• Add some lemon slices or sprigs of fresh mint if you wish!

A maté from the WFTO small producers

Like many of our teas, our maté comes from a cooperative of small producers. The Coopaflora cooperative, founded in 2004 in south Brazil, processes and markets organic family-grown crops of maté and plants from small producers in Turvo, in the state of Parana. The maté is harvested in the wild from protected plots of land in the middle of the Atlantic forest. The small producers practice sustainable agro-forestry management and make biodiversity a priority in this precious forest, where only 10% of the original area remains today. Coopaflora’s mission includes agro-ecological training, promoting the work of women, preserving traditional cultures and ensuring food security with action taking place over time in order to better resist the pressures of large industrial landowners. The cooperative recently gained WFTO labelling!

* Find all the benefits and recommended daily intake on each sachet or maté product sheet.