Curing the Gourd

Curing
A mate gourd is a gift from the Earth. It is a dried, hollowed-out vegetable gourd (Lagenaria vulgaris) that has been hand-carved with great care by an artist. To ensure a long life: Do not drop your gourd. Always be sure to rinse out your gourd when you are done using it, and let it dry completely. A soggy gourd will become weak and could tear or mold. A mate gourd is “un companero de la vida” (a companion for life). If you protect it, it will protect you.

A well-cured gourd will bring out Guayakí’s deep, rich flavor.

1. Gently scrape the inside of the gourd with the tip of the bombilla to clean the loose gourd particles.
2. Fill the gourd half-full with dry loose yerba maté.
3. Add very hot water and let stand for two days.
4. Gently scrape the gourd out again.
5. Finally, put the cleaned-out gourd in the sunlight for a day or two until it is completely dry.

Quick Cure Method: simply begin using your gourd, it will cure in time.

-- content from Guayaki

Serving the Mate / El Cebrador!!

A great mate server:

1. Passes only a smooth running mate.
2. Serves a mate that won't burn you. Hot water means a hot bombilla.
3. Remembers who is sharing maté. If someone has signaled that they are done, do not pass them another mate.
4. Knows not to share mate with someone that has a cold or flu.
5. Encourages people not to move the bombilla which may cause it to clog. If the mate becomes clogged, refill it with water and let it sit for at least one minute. If the bombilla is still clogged, you can remove the bombilla and blow it out.
6. Always empties the mate gourd, rinses it after use, and allows it to dry completely in order to increase its longevity.
7. Remembers that used yerba mate makes great organic compost and fertilizer for plants and returns it to the earth!

-- content from Guayaki

The Mate Circle

Tomando mate (drinking mate) is a symbol of hospitality. As the mate gourd is passed around, a sense of connection emerges. The first step of the ceremony is the preparation of the gourd. Typically, the cebadora, mate server, prepares mate for a friend or a group of friends. The cebadora drinks the first one or two gourd-fulls, testing the waters to ensure that only a smooth running mate is shared. Then the gourd is refilled with water and passed counter-clockwise with the bombilla (straw-filter) facing the recipient. Each person drinks the entire gourd: "you share the vessel, not the liquid." The recipient of the gourd has as much time as needed to finish the gourd-full. After the last few sips of the mate are gone, the gourd is returned with the bombilla facing the cebadora. The gourd is refilled with hot water and follows around the circle, continuing in this fashion until the mate is lavado (flat). If someone has had enough mate, they simply say gracias (thank you) to indicate that they are finished.

-- Content from Guayaki

Yerba Mate Caffine Levels Vs the others!

Drink	Serving Size	Approx. Caffeine (mg.)
Green Tea (brewed)	8oz	35
Cola	12oz	35
Coffee (brewed)	8oz	135
Canned Energy Drink	16oz	160
Specialty Coffee (brewed)	16oz	300
Yerba Mate Loose Leaf (Brewed)	8oz	90-110
YerbaYerba.com Brands	Serving Size	Approx. Caffeine (mg.)
Guayaki Traditional Loose Yerba Mate (1 Tbsp.)	8oz	110
Guayaki Java Loose Java Yerba Mate (1 Tbsp.)	8oz	90
Guayaki Traditional Tea Bag Yerba Mate (1 Tea Bag)	8oz	35-50
EcoTeas Organic	NA	NA
Krause Organica	NA	NA

We are currently collecting more info on YerbaYerba.com brands. Check back later for completed data.


Sources:
Energyfiend.com
Guayaki.com

cspinet.org

What is Yerba Maté?

Yerba Maté is an Infusion, a "tea-like" beverage, brewed from the dried leaves and stems of the perennial Yerba Mate Tree (Ilex paraguarensis tree - evergreen member of the holly family). Maté cultivated and consumed by the masses all-day every-day by the people in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil, where people seen carrying their Maté with them throughout the day is common place. This drink is rooted in their culture from the indigenous tribes of South America, Guarani Indians , who called it "Drink of the Gods" and recognized all of the benefits trough thousands of years of observation. Rich in nutrients and vitamins, and in result has many positive effects on the body and mind long and short term. It's a natural energy boost, sleep regulator, immune system boost, toxin remover, appetite suppressant, fat metabolizer, stress reliever, bad cholesterol (LDL) lowering, allergy reliever, cardiovascular system helping, breath freshener, oral hygiene assisting, age restorer & retardant must have in your diet. There is this other, hard to explain effect or feeling, only people who drink mate can explain - a connection to energy perhaps.

We first drank Maté for the natural substitute to energy drinks and coffee that the preliminary information promised. After drinking the Maté (in a Tea Bag at first) we found it to invigorate the mind and body unlike coffee and energy drinks (with out the "geek-ed out" or jittery effect, upset stomach and toxicity) doing a little research we found that it did just that without the side effects. Actually, all research points to Yerba Mate making you healthier, as it is a a natural source of nutrition: loaded with vitamins, antioxidants and mineral.

Benefits of Yerba Maté:

The benefits derived from yerba maté touches all aspects of the body and is seemingly endless.

Stimulate Mind & Energize The Body: Xanthine stimulates mental energy by effecting central nervous system. The tea has the ability to quicken the mind, to increase mental alertness and acuity.

Regulator Sleep Cycle : Mate enhances your energy and ability to remain awake at will - without preventing you from being able to fall asleep, as is often the case with some more common stimulating beverages. Maté has a tendency to balance sleep cycles, inducing more REM sleep when necessary, or increasing the amount of time spent in delta states. Many people report that they require less sleep when using Maté. Mate seems to act like a tonic, invigorating a weakened and depressed nervous system and relaxing an overexcited one. "I reached the place of our vibouac by sunset and drinking much mate, soon made up my bed for the night. The wind was very strong and cold, but I never slept more comfortably." -- Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle, 1936 said

Anti-Depressant: Just drink it to figure this out.

Metabolizes Fat: containing theobromine allowing for the body to shed more water (remove fat) while boosting metabolism and suppressing hunger, all of which combine to aid in successful diets.

Removes Toxins & Boost Immune System: because Mate contains Antioxidant, body’s main defense against free radicals and stimulating natural resistance to disease, in the form of Vitamins A, C, E, and the minerals Zinc and Selenium. It is found at seven times that of Green Tea. The Pasteur Institute study indicated Yerba Mate to be a more potent antioxidant than ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Saponins are also found in Yerba Mate and have been found to protect against disease by inciting immune response.

Increases Sugar Intake into the Muscle, nerves

Relieve Stress / Anietey: stimulates a weakened or depressed nervous system, and calms an overexcited one. When stress, whether from environmental factors, bad nutrition or anxiety, throws our body’s systems out of balance, Maté has bi-directional properties restore homeostasis in the body, while not over stimulating any one system. In addition, it is non-addictive, and will not cause jitters or any contraindicators.

Increses Cerebral activity (vitamin B complex)

Increase blood circulation by decreasing blood pressure, since xanthine acts as a vasodilator.

Assists cardiovascular system with the help of the Mineral salts, jointly with xanthine.

Heart growth & repair by supplying many of the nutrients required by the heart for growth and repair. Incidence of arteriosclerosis is low in countries where yerba is consumed.

Myocardial Muscle Stimulation from the theobromine, caffeine, and theophylline - beneficial for the walls of the heart and arteries.

Increase oxygen to the heart especially duiring periods of stess and exercise.

Reduced blood pressure by relaxing peripheral blood vessels.

Allergy Relief There is growing clinical evidence that yerba maté stimulates the adrenal glands to produce corticosteroids, thus stimulating metabolism in muscle cells. As a by-product of this, Maté has been commonly observed to decrease the severity and incidence of allergy and hay fever.

Balance blood glucose levels with adrenocortical action, so that hypoglycemic patients respond well to Yerba Maté.

Lowers bad cholesterol (LDLs) Lowers while keeping the good cholesterol

Relaxing effect on smooth muscle tissue: like bronchial muscle, while stimulating the Myocardial Muscle Stimulation from the theobromine, caffeine, and theophylline - beneficial for the walls of the heart and arteries.

Bladder Relief: enhances evacuation and urination

Gentle Diuretic acts on the digestive tube by activating peristaltic movements; it facilitates digestion, attenuates gastric troubles and seems to have the ability to repair damaged and diseased gastrointestinal tissues. Constipation, acute or chronic, can be relieved by drinking lots of Mate. It is a mild slow acting diuretic.

Accelerate Healing Process) / Age Retardant / Anti-Aging: Researches at the Paris Pasteur Institute confer to Yerba Maté a very important role in the cellcregeneration process.

Nervous System: Calms & Tones Nervous System

Oral health: Fights bad breath

Sexual Vitality: provide improved sexual interest and performance, thereby possibly offering a drug-free, all natural alternative to Viagra.

Reduces Fever: febrifuge

Skin Ulcers Relieve from a topically applied poultice of the leaves. Mate's tannin content - highly astringent - may be the reasoning behind this use.

Negative Effects: We thought there has to be a negative, and we found one health risk; if you drink your Maté (as any beverage too hot) you can develop espahacul caner. So, please, do not use boiling water... besides water above 165-170 ruin that taste and benefits of the Maté.

Nutrition Value:

Mineral: Potassium (high levels), Magnesium (high levels), Manganese - (high levels), Calcium, Iron, Selenium, Phosphorus, Zinc Note: traces of aluminum and arsenic are found, as well.

Vitamins: A, C, E, V, B, B1, B2, B3 (Niacin), B5

Compounds: Carotene, Fatty Acids, Chlorophyll, Flavonols, Polyphenols, Inositol, Trace Minerals, Antioxidants, Tannins, Pantothenic Acid, Amino Acids (15 of them), PhytochemicalsSuperfoods", Saponins Note: 196 volatile chemical compounds found in Yerba Mate (144 are also found in some teas). The infusions of Ilex paraguarensis are less astringent than those made of tea.

Alkaloids: caffeine, theophylline, theobromine - most interesting compounds from a therapeutic standpoint.

Components: water, cellulose, gums, dextrin, mucilage, glucose, pentose, fat substances, aromatic resin, legumin, albumin, xanthine, theophylline, caffearin, folic acid, caffeic acid, viridic acid, chlorophyll, cholesterin, essence oil.

Ashes contain great amounts of potassium, lithium, folic, sulfuric, carbon, chloric, citric acids "

According to Dr. Mowry, Director of Mountainwest Institute of Herbal Sciences, one group of investigators from the Pasteur Institute and the Paris Scientific Society of 1964, interested in this "Drink of the Gods", did a thorough study of its properties and concluded that Yerba Mate contains "practically all of the vitamins necessary to sustain life" They focused especially on Pantothenic Acid, remarking that it is "rare to find a plant with so much of this significant and vital nutrients...It is indeed difficult to find a plant in any area of the world equal to Mate in nutritional value."

History:

The Guarani tribe in the forests of Paraguay have known for centuries of the restorative and stimulative properties of a native yerba maté. Legend has it that Pa’i Shume – a tall, fair-skinned, bearded god – was the one who taught them to harvest and prepare the leaves of the yerba. First introduced to colonizing and modern civilizations by the Guarani Indians of Parana-Paraguay river system of southern South America. 16th century, Juan de Sols, a Spanish explorer of South America's famed La Plata River, reported that the Guarani Indians of Paraguay brewed a leaf tea that "produced exhilaration and relief from fatigue." Spanish settlers quickly developed a taste for this wild harvest infusion that the indigenous people revered.

In the early 17th century, Spanish colonization of Parana-Paraguay river system was primarily tied to Jesuit missionaries who encouraged large scale agriculture as a means of using the indigenous resources to produce marketable goods. The Jesuit missionaries realized the great economic potential of yerba mate, and from the 1650s to 1670s successfully established the first yerba mate plantations at their missions. - grew in popularity throughout southern South America during the 17th and 18th century. Their subsequent demand for the tea led the Jesuits to develop plantations of the wild species in Paraguay and yerba mate became known as "Jesuits' tea" or "Paraguay tea." In 1767 the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish colonies and the cultivation of yerba mate ended for well over a hundred years. During the period between 1767 and 1895, yerba mate was only attainable by wild harvest methods, which remained an important aspect for much of its commercial history. In the late 1890s large scale yerba mate plantations were developed throughout the region to accommodate the vastly growing market. Two centuries later gauchos on the region’s vast pampas utilized the herb, resting beside their fires and sipping the tea through a bombilla, a silver straw with a fine-screened strainer.

The scientific name Ilex paraguarensis was given by the French naturalist and botanist Auguste de Saint Hilaire in 1822.

Maté did not catch on in Europe probably because it only gained commercial success in Spanish America after 1700, long after tea, coffee and cacao had become available in Europe.

Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle, 1936 said " I reached the place of our vibouac by sunset and drinking much mate, soon made up my bed for the night. The wind was very strong and cold, but I never slept more comfortably."

Tradition / Culture of Maté

Mate is traditionally served in community with friends, offered in a ritual of love and friendship for each other and our natural world. One individual assumes the task of server. This person typically fills the gourd and drinks its contents completely, sipping through a Bombilla (metal or cane drinking straw or tube, which has a filter carved / attached to the lower end to strain out leaf fragments). The server subsequently refills the gourd and passes it to the next drinker who likewise drinks it all. The ritual proceeds around the circle in this fashion until the mate is exhausted, typically after the gourd has been filled about ten times. Warning: do not say "thank you" or "gracias" unless you intend to have no more Mate. See some sharing-rules: http://www.mundomatero.com/yerba/Sharing-Rules.html.

-- Mate is bet enjoyed in groups. However, even alone, the cup of maté in your hand as you begin a new day promises to leave you refreshed and with a great feeling of well being.

The Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguarensis) Tree

Has flowers that are small, polygamous, dioicous, with calix and corolla in a tetrameric disposition. The fruit resembles a pepper berry. Among several varieties, there are three that are the most important: "angustifolia", "longifolia" and "latifolia". The plant needs about 25 years to develop completely, reaching in that case a height of up to 15 meters. The leaves are alternated, cuneiform, elliptical or oval, with the border slightly serrated. Yerba Maté is grown in the iron-rich, acidic soil and semi-tropical climates of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay - in the wild. The tree belongs to the family Aquifoliaceae and grows between the parallels 10° and 30° (South) in the Paraná and Paraguay rivers basins. It is a plant typical of the Alto Paraná region, Alto Uruguay region and the Argentine NE. It is a tropical or subtropical plant, needing high temperatures, high humidity and up to 1500 mm of annual rain.

Pronunciation / Nomenclature

Yerba is a corruption of the Spanish word hierba, which means “herb". Maté derives from derives from the Quichua Indian word "matí" that names the gourd or cup. (Ilex_paraguariensis Nomenclature - wikipedia)

Depending on the country, the accent, the twist in translation and time period here are a few ways it has and is being called: mahe’ tā, yerba mahtay, erva matay, yar ba mat ay, Yerba maté, maté, erva mate, congonha, erveira, Paraguay cayi, Paraguay tea, South American holly, matéteestrauch, erva-verdadeira, St. Bartholomew’s tea, Jesuit’s tea, hervea, caminú, kkiro, kali chaye, Drink of health and friendship, Elixir of the Jesuits, Drink of the Gods, the green gold of the Indios, South American herb.

Some Guaraní words related to Mate:

• Barbacuá: from mbarambacuá = ma (pile) + ra (euphonic) + mbacuá (toasted or roasted thing)

• Caä: Yerba Mate

• Caá-guará: Mate drinker

• Caá-i-guá: Mate gourd (literally: container of the water of Yerba Mate)

• Caá-u-ei: thirst of Mate

• Mboroviré: Yerba Mate slightly "canchada" (desiccated and broken)

• Sapeca, sambeca or sapeá: pocá, peá or mbecá (to open) + za or sá (eye) = to open the globules or vesicles of the Yerba Mate by the heating process

• Ticuá cá ay: "cebar el Mate" (literally: to throw water in the hole)

Yerba Mate' vs Coffee, Energy Drinks & Adderall!

Users report a mental state of wakefulness, focus and alertness reminiscent of most stimulants - though longer lasting. Drinkers report a lack of the negative effects typically created by coffee or energy drinks such as anxiety, diarrhea, "jitteriness," heart palpitations, insomnia and irritability. The pleasantly stimulating effect of Yerba Mate comes primarily from a compound called mateine. While mateine is related to caffeine, and sometimes referred to as such, the way the body absorbs it differs significantly from caffeine. Yerba Mate affects your system by gradually bringing up your energy level more slowly and evenly. It has a more long lasting effect and most people find this much more enjoyable than coffee. Studies of mate, though very limited, have shown preliminary evidence that the substance is different from other caffeinated beverages most significantly in its effects on muscle tissue, as opposed to those on the central nervous system, which are similar to those of other natural stimulants.

Is Mate' Caffeine Free? No, yerba mate' does contain caffeine, but some people seem to tolerate it better than coffee or tea, as found by Researchers at Florida International University in Miami . Perhaps because caffeine is found at much lower levels. So meager that it would require 100 tea bags worth of mate brewed in a 6-ounce cup of water to equal the amount of caffeine in a 6-ounce serving of conventional coffee. It is however generally established that yerba mate's caffeine content is minimal - researchers from the Free Hygienic Institute of Hamburg, Germany, concluded in their studies of yerba mate that its caffeine content is ...

Research links relating to Yerba Maté:

Majority of links are to PDF files supported by Acrobat Reader - download current version, it's free.

• Yerba Mate: A Comprehensive Review on Chemistry, Health Implications, and Technological Considerations - PDF

• Volatile Constituents of Green Mate and Roasted Mate - PDF

• Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Yerba Mate - PDF

• Yerba Mate: Healthy Energy Beverage 100% Organic Energy Fueled by Vitamins and Nutrients – Higher Antioxidant... - PDF

• A NEW SAPONIN FROM MATE, lLEX PARAGUARIENSlS - PDF

• Supplements with Superfoods - PDF

Preparation (make it drinkable):

Methods of leaf preparation for the traditional tea beverage vary then and now: in one method, the branches are cut, then held over an open fire (to fire-cure the leaves). This deactivates the enzymes in the leaves (making them more brittle) and the green color of the leaves is retained in the subsequent drying process (with charred bits often found in the resulting tea product, which lends to a smoky flavor). Other methods include a brief par-blanching of the leaves in boiling water (to deactivate the leaf enzymes and soften its leathery texture). They then are toasted dry in large pans over a fire or inside a brick oven-resulting in a finished brown-leaf tea.

Harvesting:

It flowers between the months of October and December. Harvesting is done between May and October, when the tree is in full leaf. Leaves are picked from the same tree only every third year, which protects it for subsequent crops. It is not unusual for one wild tree to yield 30-40 kg of dried leaves annually. In wild harvesting, mate gatherers, called tarrafeirosyebateros, travel through the jungle searching for a stand of trees (called a mancha).
On average, 300,000 tons of Mate are produced each year. Mate employs 400,000 people to cultivate, prepare and distribute it to Latin America, the Middle East, North America and the European community, where it is known as the. Brazil and Paraguay (leading exporters of mate) - some production still comes from wild stands-most of which is found in the humid depressions of the foothills. Most of the mate in commerce today, however, comes from large cultivation projects in Paraguay and Uruguay.