About Yerba Mate tea

Organic Yerba Mate tea is grown in South America, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil. At the time of harvesting the branches are sometimes dried with a wood fire and this in turn gives the tea a smoky flavor.
The tea is enjoyed by people of all ages and it is even encouraged by some South American governments for children to partake of the healthy liquid before school to help them concentrate for the day.

Interesting Tidbits
1. The mate tea is traditionally made in a gourd with hot water added and drunk with a bombilla.
2. A bombilla is a metal straw with holes or a screen at the bottom to filter out the twigs and leaves.
3. It is said that using the bombilla pulls out the greatest amount of nutrients and goodness from the yerba mate.
4. Each member of a family has their own personal gourd and bombilla.
5. In the old days people would exchange their gourd and bombilla with each other as a sign of respect and friendship.
6. Another sign of friendship is passing the yerba mate around a circle thus sharing the gourd and bombilla.

Health Benefits

The health benefits are wide and varied although there is a great dispute over weather or not yerba mate contains caffeine.
Many who have taken yerba mate report that they feel uplifted the same way caffeine makes them feel but they don't experience the same side effects as they do with caffeine.

I myself find the stimulant to be a much "cleaner" feeling than what I get from a cup of coffee. That being said I still greatly enjoy drinking all of the other teas of the Camilla Sinensis plant.

Some other healthy attributes are said to be the lowering of blood pressure and overall good health. Also the one major thing is indeed you are energized by the tea but unlike caffeine your muscles are relaxed and you have a general feeling of well-being.
Of course organic yerba mate tea would be the best kind to drink in order to realize the full potential of the teas attributes.

Appearance

Yerba mate consists of small broken leaves and small twigs. It has a green color for the leaves and the twigs range from dark green to brown.

Once brewed yerba mate tea assumes a wonderful hue of light brown depending on the length of time brewed.

How to brew

The traditional way of brewing organic Yerba Mate tea involves placing some tea in a gourd and pouring hot(not boiling) water into the gourd.

After drinking the first batch you then pour more hot water into the gourd and keep doing this until there is no flavor left.

These days Yerba Mate is becoming more popular around the world. As a result of this popularity people are brewing their yerba mate in teapots and right in their ceramic mugs.
You certainly can brew it this way but it's not a traditional way and therefore some extreme yerba mate enthusiasts deny that method as being useful.