Yerba mate is a cultural legacy of the ancient Aymara natives, Quechua and Guarani peoples and is enjoyed throughout the Southern Cone,  but only in Brazil it is known as chimarrão.  Just like in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay,  there is also a world of  customs, idioms and folklore surrounding this drink in Brazil. The term chimarrão, which …
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Yerba mate is undoubtedly a very healthy drink, but it’s caffeine count puts it off limits to those suffering from gastritis and certain nervous disorders. In the past, many people have had to abandon their habit of drinking mate for health reasons, but in the last years they are slowly beating the dust off their good old bombillas. After 10 …
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Unless you are rolling out more cash to buy yerba mate sin palo (free of stems), then you are probably consuming a blend commonly known as yerba mate elaborada con palo, which is sold with a percentage of stems in its composition. If on the one hand, many yerba mate experts agree that a small stem count actually …
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After having lived in several places around the world, I hereby declare that Berlin is one of my favorite places to be. When people ask me what it’s like to live in Germany, I often say: – well…it’s complicated. To which most people often reply: – What?? I have a friend who lives in Berlin and they …
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After five years in power, the man described as the “world’s most humble president” has stepped down from office in Uruguay. In a ceremony yesterday, Jose “Pepe” Mujica, who leaves office with approval ratings of nearly 70 per cent, handed over his presidential sash to Tabare Vazquez. His farewell speech, was definitely one of the most …
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There is nothing better than to sit back, relax and enjoy a nice heart warming mate, but when doing so we rarely think about the people behind such low yerba mate prices. In Germany, for example, 500g of yerba mate can be easily obtained for about $8 on Amazon. That is for a product that has already …
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There are several yerba mate tutorials circling around the internet, instructing people to shake their gourds vigorously in order to allow the larger yerba stems to “sink to the bottom” before pouring in the water.  Most “big shot” mate experts out there who recommend this technique, do so because of the following reasons: Stems at …
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In countries where drinking yerba mate is part of the local culture, it is not at all unusual to see people  carrying thermos flasks all the time. They are a faithful ally that allow people to enjoy a hot mate virtually anywhere: at work, at the beach, at the park and during their travels. Modern aluminum thermos flasks are …
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