Organic Brazilian green maté in a blend put together for the morning — the one to reach for in place of a second coffee.
Why people swap coffee for maté
The caffeine in maté is the same molecule as the caffeine in coffee; anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. What differs is the delivery. A cup of maté carries somewhere between a cup of tea and a weak coffee, and it is drunk more slowly and usually re-infused, so the same total dose arrives spread over a longer period rather than in one hit. A great many people find that steadier, with less of the sharp rise and subsequent slump.
Maté also contains theobromine, the mild stimulant that gives chocolate its lift, which is generally credited with the rounder quality of the effect.
That is the honest version. It is not a stronger stimulant than coffee and it is not a gentler drug — it is the same drug, taken differently.
What maté is
The leaves of Ilex paraguariensis, a South American holly. Not tea, and not caffeine-free. This is green Brazilian maté, dried without smoke rather than cured over wood fire, so it is grassy and clean rather than smoky.
Brewing it
80 °C, never boiling. Boiling water scalds the leaf and produces a harsh, drying bitterness — the commonest reason people abandon maté. Boil the kettle and let it stand two or three minutes.
A teaspoon to a tablespoon per mug, five minutes or more, re-infusing up to three times. The second infusion is often the best.
Worth knowing
Let it cool below about 65 °C before drinking. The health concerns around maté relate to drinking it scalding hot in the traditional South American way rather than to the plant itself.
Contains caffeine. Keep it to the first half of the day if you sleep lightly — caffeine has a half-life of five to six hours. In pregnancy the guidance is under 200 mg a day from all sources.
Mojo Maté
Mojo Maté
ORIGINAL MATE
ORIGINAL MATE
