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= Questions and Answers =
This is a place to discuss and answer general questions about Yerba Mate and everything that comes with it.
0. How to make the best mate? The best mate depends on personal choice. Meta Mate experience shows that wild and fresh mate in powdery form is the best for us. To prepair it in the best way follow the instructions in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5WTHKQPbnY
If it is to complicated or uses to much erva, there is an economical and fool-proof way, if perfected one can make it in 11 seconds. Check it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY_VNsHWJ_s
1. Why does some Yerba cause an upset stomach?
Fabricio used to experience this problem, he could not drink Mate on an empty stomache because after a few 'cuias' he would experience stomache cramps and heartburn. However, after switching to traditionally produced barbaqua Mate that was produced by a friend of his (this eventually became Meta Mate), he discovered that he did not have this problem anymore. We later learned from a doctor and authority on Gaucho culture that due to lack of direct contact with fire, many industrially-dried Mates do not undergo a proper Sapeco process. This is vital in removing certain 'toxins' from the Mate that often cause heartburn.
1.1 So it is important that Mate has direct contact with fire? So what about Yerbas which are not even dried over a fire, like Kraus or Barao Nativa?
That is what we learnded from Dr.Ari, who wrote the Book “Who is the Gaucho”. The Meta Mate experience shows that by hand sapeco one can ensure to explode the whole surface of the leaves (we can post pictures with examples of good and bad sapeco, for the moment this video showing the hand work http://youtu.be/IPB50r1yr-Q .
Industrial Sapeco as much as we seen do not do it, since the leaves “fly” very distant from the fire. One important thing is by the sapeco one gives the taste to the erva, just like by coffee it happens when rosting. So industrial yerba has a fix character, while the hand sapeco can get a personal note. After that the drying in aromatic wood can also make a big diference. We carry mate dryied with guabiroba and now Orange tree wood that are from the finest kinds.
Main thing on Barao or Kraus is that those are industrial, and so use diferent sources. Like Barao Nativa is different from Barao Premium, because the forests used are different. Barao Premium comes from the Pinhao area, known as for best Forest Erva in Parana. The Kraus I belive is stored plantated erva, that probably do not include any of the big leaves with tender taste, that by the way have a much higher AOC (anty oxidant capacity) than conventional leaves. So its not only the sapeco, but also the origen of the erva as well if it is sotored or not that would make a difference.
2. I heard that it is quiet differen to drink powdery Mate than drinking the standard Argentine cut. Can I drink powdery Mate with my regular Bombilla? Are there any special treatments necessary to prevent the bombilla from getting locked?
Yes you can, but is difficult to make. Even with a proper Brazilian it might happen that it clogs. For avoiding it we recommend to start using the “camisinha = condom”, it is a new development, specially welcomen by people who do not want to “eat” the powder together. A video about how to put the “camisinha” is here http://youtu.be/5SWaZpV31I0
The best way to prevent the bombilla from getting locked is to use an alternative preparation different from the argentinean way. here is an economical and fool-proof way in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY_VNsHWJ_s.