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StarLight from the Tea Drinkers group on Myspace suggested we blend a green yerba mate with vanilla. I thought it would be even cooler with some white chocolate chips added.

For anyone not familiar with yerba mate, it is a tisane from a plant grown in South America.  In some areas of South America, mate is more popular than coffee, and I imagine if you like coffee, South America would be the place to get good coffee, so it really is good stuff.  Our green yerba mate is (to me) something similar to a green tea, but with absolutely no astringency to it.  It’s very smooth, slightly grassy and sweet.

A common misconception is that yerba mate does not have caffeine in it, possibly due to the widely reported absence of many of the potentially negative side effects of caffeine (such as anxiety, diarrhea, “jitteriness”, and heart palpitations).  Yerba mate does, in fact contain caffeine, but physiological effects of drinking yerba mate are hard to attribute to something as simple as caffeine.  It has been my personal experience that drinking yerba mate gives me a bit of added focus, quite literally.  I find that everything appears to be sharper in appearance and my level of alertness increases dramatically.  As reported by many, many other yerba mate drinkers, I also have failed to feel any of the negative effects that other caffeinated beverages sometimes cause.

There are some fascinating discussions about these physiological effects and about the properties of the plant itself online, including some disussion of its potential as an MAO Inhibitor.  MAOIs are used to treat depression which could explain the calming effects of the beverage.

If you are interested in reading more about yerba mate, here are a few links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate

http://www.erowid.org/plants/y…..try2.shtml

http://www.erowid.org/plants/y…..try1.shtml

http://gosouthamerica.about.co…..bamate.htm

http://www.erowid.org/plants/y…..meline.php

At Zoomdweebie’s, “We’re Nerdy About Tea!” is more than just a slogan.  We really enjoy looking into all the facets of the products we offer, but please rest assured that despite all of the interesting tidbits presented here and elsewhere on the web about yerba mate, this is a beverage that has been consumed for hundreds of years, possibly thousands of years.  It is widely available and considered as safe as tea or coffee, and we wouldn’t offer it otherwise.

Our Tea of the week for the week ending 12.20.08

Star’s Vanilla Mate

2oz. (20-25 cups) DELIVERED for just $7.99

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