Yerba Mate Tea – Organic South American Ilex Paraguariensis 100g

Mood: Awake, Focused, Social
Best For: Replacing coffee, long work days, sharing a gourd

Latin name: Ilex paraguariensis
Also known as: Yerba mate, mate, chimarrão
Ingredients: 100% organic yerba mate

South America’s shared drink: steady energy, passed from hand to hand.

Yerba Mate Tea, Organic

Yerba mate is made from the dried leaves of Ilex paraguariensis, a holly tree native to the forests of Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil. The Guaraní people drank it long before Europeans arrived, and today it is the everyday drink of the region: prepared in a gourd, sipped through a metal straw called a bombilla, and shared among friends.

• Caffeine with theobromine – the same pair found in cacao, for energy that builds gently and lasts, without the sharp edge of coffee.
• Focus and stamina – traditionally drunk to stay clear and alert through long days of work.
• Antioxidants – the leaves are rich in polyphenols, which protect cells from oxidative damage.

How to Prepare Yerba Mate

Fill a gourd or cup halfway with leaves, wet them with cool water, then add water at 70 to 80°C, never boiling, which makes it bitter. Sip, refill and drink again: the same leaves give many rounds. Without a gourd, steep a tablespoon in a cup for 5 minutes. For the Amazonian cousin of mate, try Guayusa.