Dear AnnaStrophic: I am reading Smithsonian magazine for Dec. 2001. An article about paleontologists finding whale skeletons in Andes Mountains of Chile mentions their being served "green tea - maté".
I found a URL about it:
http://www.1planetyerbamatetea.com/index.html?mgiToken=2KGA7OFQNI35D957F Since it is a product of Brazil, I thought you might be able to tell us about it. It sounds good, but does it taste good? And can it be bought in U.S.?
Dr. Bill, I tried maté in Mexico and wasn't too thrilled by the taste. A Columbian friend brought some from Bogotá. You should be able to purchase it at your local food co-op, though. I don't think you will find it in the A&P. It seems to be an aquired taste. As far as I know, it is drunk more for the buzz than the taste
. If you have trouble finding it, pm me and I'll try to find you some.
Here is another URL
http://www.guayaki.com/ It is a commercial site, but has some cool links. Buen aprovecho.
Dear Connie: I finally found a Yahoo site about alleged health food stores having maté in addition to all the other perilously perfumed potions they purvey. The prices on small packages were not too bad. The claims about the vitamins and anti-oxidants and essential proteins I take as nature nuts nonsense. I would be more in a hurry go get some if you had been able to praise its palatability. But variety adds spice to life, so I can easily get my daughter who buys a lot of health junk to get some for me. Hope you have been having fun,
Maté is the "official" drink of Argentina. My parents have been living there for a couple of years now, and have gotten used to the very bitter, gritty taste. It is served in little almost-teardrop-shaped cups
called a cuia that are often very decorative and it is drunk through a unique little metal straw
called a bombilla with a strainer built into the end that goes into the cup (to strain out the leaves, I assume). I didn't try it, myself (coffee is too bitter for me), I stuck to the "submarino" -- hot milk with a small bar of rich chocolate dropped into it to melt. Mmmmm.
EDIT: Here's a good site for more in depth info:http://agronomy.ucdavis.edu/gepts/pb143/crop/mate/mate.htm
My parents love the stuff - they used to get it at German delicatessens in Toronto. And then they'd try to make ME drink it too! Not exactly my cup of tea, though.
Speaking of that buzz from tea reminds me of a friend in Boston who had a book called "The Book of Tea." It was all about how to drink properly in China. One of the goals in drinking tea was to get a buzz or an altered mental state.
Haven't taken a look into that book for almost thirty years, but it sure made the drinking of tea sound like an art form.
Best regards,
Wine'sWoozier!
In Spanish, maté is "I killed".
In Portuguese it's the imperative of "to kill." But I suspect the *origin of the word is Tupi-Guarani.
Dr. Bill, Flatlander did such a good job of replying that I have nothing more to add, except maybe that it is also, as you noted, popular in (the south of) Brazil. And I don't think it has much to do with the green tea most of us know.
But I suspect the *origin of the word is Tupi-Guarani.
So is maté anything like guarana???
Dear AnnaStrophic: I thought your Brazilian years might have taught you to enjoy maté, so that you could describe its virtues. I have found I can get it locally in alleged health food stores, conveniently in teabags, so no need for special tube with filter to avoid getting grit onto tongue. The botanical name is "ilex paraguayensis" which means it is related to holly.
In Indonesian mati means dead.
Bingley
Dear Bingley: Thanks for reminding me. I got out my maté bags, heated a cup of water in microwave, and brewed as directed. The taste was milder than I expected. Different, acceptable, and perhaps a better waker-upper than my usual tea.
At least, it didn't "kill" me. I might even get to like it.
Interesting. I'd always heard that the term "checkmate" in chess was derived from the persian phrase "shah mat," supposedly meaning "the king is dead."
k
And everybody knows the "matador" is the guy who kills the bull.
I never made the connection.
Cool.
k
If you like a bitter drink, Mate makes a good one. But you have to get a good brand. Rosa Munde comes highly recommended -- not only by myself, but by that daughter of the military, that military brat, who still haunts my nights -- whose name can no more be spoken than commited globally to evanescent phosphors.
Dear IP: The maté I have is a product of Paraguay, "Rainforest- Grown". I'm glad it is in little bags, for convenience. I don't have the traditional strainer straw. And even if I had the traditional "sharing gourd", I have nobody to share it with. I did not find it at all disagreeably bitter. I had the pecuiliar sensation of being able to taste it with my whole mouth, and the taste tended to linger.
Dear Doc,
I may still have the bombilla (say "bombisha") -- or "strainer straw" -- the nameless lady left with me, shall I look for it?
IP
Dear IP: save your bombilla, with a bit of luck you might have another chance to share your beverage. I am not that fortunate. Bill