How does mate tea taste? Influence mate tea taste!
Introduction
Mate tea is the most commonly drunk tea in South America. However, what mate tea tastes like takes a lot of getting used to for many people. In this article we will therefore give you precise examples of what individual types of mate tea taste like and how you can influence their taste.
Table of contents
1. What does mate tea taste like?
How your mate tea tastes depends on many factors. Depending on the processing, cultivation and origin, the tastes vary. We would therefore like to first give you an overview of the different varieties.
In the second step, we will show you some methods that you can use to further influence the mate tea taste of the individual variety.
Generally speaking, mate tea tastes like a very bitter herbal tea. The most sold mate also has a very smoky aroma.
Unfortunately, we don't have a large selection of different types of mate tea Shop, since we are on Guayusa-specialize in tea. However, we know the founders of Caa Mate and know that the quality of the mate teas on offer is good.
1.1. Traditional mate
Mate tea is considered traditional, the leaves of which are dried over fire after harvesting. The smoke from the fire creates an unmistakable “smoke aroma”, which is what defines the traditional mate tea taste.
This variety is always suspected of being highly carcinogenic because of the so-called fire polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) which is distributed through the smoke onto the mate leaves.
1.2. Roasted mate
Roasted mate often promises an aroma similar to that of coffee, as the leaves are roasted like coffee beans after hot air drying. This takes much less time with leaves than with beans, otherwise they would char. Because of this and because they are of course leaves and not coffee beans, the taste of this variety of mate tea can only be remotely compared to that of coffee.
However, this method produces no PAHs and is said to have a slightly more pleasant aroma for newbies.
1.3. RAW mate tea flavor
As with the previous two examples, what mate tastes like depends on how it is processed. The first taste factor, however, is the origin and therefore the soil, the sunlight and the water. With a RAW mate you can experience the genuine, raw mate taste. Depending on the origin, this varies and can be significantly milder with wild mate than with commercial mate.
However, wild mate teas are extremely rare. When buying, make sure that the mate is made from so-called Permacultures These are forest gardens that preserve the region's natural biodiversity. Monocultures, on the other hand, destroy these in favor of an introduced plant species.
The RAW Mate is neither roasted nor dried over fire, but much more gently with hot air. This means that more antioxidants are retained and the original taste of the leaves comes to the fore. Similar to ours PURE Guayusa tea.
1.4. Flavored
We are not a fan of flavored teas or drinks, but this is of course a way to drown out the bitter taste of mate tea.
Some companies offer in-house flavored teas. Note that these flavors often also contain sweeteners or are obtained through chemical processes. Even natural flavors are not necessarily better.
1.5. Quality levels
With traditional mate, the leaves including the leaf stems are often processed. This results in a large amount of woody material in the mate. The taste changes accordingly because the stems don't carry as much aroma. This quality level is predominantly found among traditional mate.
RAW Mate is the sweetest of the varieties and the flavored varieties are more for the “blue berry muffin tea bag drinkers” among you.
2. Influence how mate tea tastes
In addition to the varieties mentioned above, which make a difference in the basic taste, you can also influence the taste of each variety through the preparation.
You can influence how mate tea tastes using the following methods. In addition, the preparation makes a difference in terms of effect. In our article “Effects of mate tea" and "Side effects of tea varietiesYou can find more information about this. If you would like to compare the best-known caffeinated drinks, we also recommend the articles “the most caffeinated drink in the world" and "Tea types comparison“.
2.1. Water temperature
Similar to green tea, you should also pay attention to the water temperature with mate tea. The hotter, the more bitter substances are dissolved.
An ideal temperature is between 70ºC and 85ºC.
2.2. Drink less mate tea
Traditionally, between 20 g and 30 g of mate are used per mate container. With this amount you can drink around 2 liters of mate. That's significantly more than you think Guayusa need.
To reduce the intensity of the taste and have it less bitter and tart, you can of course simply halve the amount.
2.3. Pour away the first infusion
As an addition to the method mentioned above, you can now pour away the first infusion. This is often done in South America as this infusion has the strongest bitter taste.
2.4. Allow to pre-swell
Another method is to pre-soak the leaves with cold water. This takes away some of the bitter aftertaste. The water must be thrown away as with the previous method. The soaking time should only be approx. 3 minutes.
2.5. Mix mate tea for a mild taste
Instead of drinking 100% mate tea, you can also drink it with other herbs, fruits or Guayusa Mix.
The taste of the other ingredients makes the mate tea milder and more pleasant in taste. Mint, ginger, hibiscus, and lemongrass work very well.
Guayusa is also ideal because the mild taste has a weakening effect on the strongly bitter mate tea. Plus you don't lose any effect because Guayusa contains even more caffeine than mate and about three times as much Antioxidants has.
2.6. sugar or sweeteners
It is not without reason that black tea is often drunk with sugar. It's a way to drown out the bitter taste. However, you should be aware that sugar can have some lasting long-term effects on your body. You should therefore avoid excessive consumption.
2.7. Teapot or tea strainer
You can also find out how your mate tea tastes fantastically with one tea strainer or one Teapot with strainer influence, as you can better determine the brewing time and quantity.
3. Buy yerba mate tea
You won't find Yerba Mate in our range because we focus on it Guayusa-Tea, the most caffeinated drink in the world. However, if you would still like to try mate tea or combine it with other stimulants, we recommend you Buy mate tea from Caa-Mate, as we know the founders personally from many trade fairs.
4. Conclusion
How mate tea tastes depends on many factors such as its origin, cultivation, processing and also preparation.
By choosing the appropriate mate product, you can already decide whether you want to go in a strongly bitter and smoky direction or more in the herbal tea direction.
You can then use various preparations to reduce the bitter taste. Guayusa It also makes an excellent mixing partner without weakening the effect Guayusa even contains more caffeine than mate.
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