Looking to buy yerba mate? Here you'll find our yerba mate: loose leaves, a starter pack with gourd and bombilla, and a separate gourd set. Yerba mate is a traditional South American drink made from the dried, finely ground leaves of Ilex paraguariensis. This species of holly grows in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil. It tastes herbal, earthy and slightly bitter.
Buy yerba mate tea: loose leaves or a starter pack
- Yerba mate tea leaves: 250 grams of yerba mate of organic origin, traditionally ground for the classic preparation with gourd and bombilla. No flavourings or other additives.
- Yerba mate tea set with gourd and bombilla: two 250-gram bags of yerba mate with a gourd and a bombilla. Handy as a starter pack, or if you drink a lot of mate.
- Gourd set with bombilla: an aluminium gourd, a bombilla and a cleaning stick. For when you already have the leaves.
Gourd and bombilla
Traditionally, yerba mate is drunk from a gourd, also called a mate: the cup the leaves stay in. You drink through the bombilla, a metal straw with a filter at the bottom, so the leaves stay in the gourd. In South America, mate is more than tea: friends and family share one gourd, which is refilled again and again and passed around. No gourd? You can also brew yerba mate in a teapot or French press.
How do you prepare yerba mate?
Fill the gourd two thirds with yerba. Place your hand over the opening, turn the gourd upside down and shake briefly: the finest particles stay on your hand. Then shake the leaves to one side so a hollow forms on the other side. Pour a little cold water into the hollow and let it soak in for a few minutes. Insert the bombilla into the hollow with your thumb over the top and add hot, but not boiling, water. Traditionally you use water of about 70 to 80 °C, because boiling water makes yerba mate bitter. Drink the mate through the bombilla and keep topping up. Prefer it cold? Make yerba mate as tereré, with cold water.
How much caffeine is in yerba mate?
Yerba mate naturally contains caffeine. Dried mate leaves contain 1 to 2% caffeine, and a 150 ml cup of mate tea contains about 78 mg (Winkler et al., Ernährungs Umschau, 2014). With the traditional preparation you keep refilling the gourd, so how much you get depends on how much yerba you use and how often you top up. According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), up to 400 mg of caffeine a day from all sources raises no safety concerns for healthy adults. For pregnant women the limit is 200 mg a day (EFSA, 2015).
Is yerba mate healthy?
Yerba mate is a tea: dried leaves that you brew with water. Our yerba mate consists only of leaves of organic origin, with no flavourings or other additives. Do keep an eye on the caffeine, especially if you also drink coffee, matcha or energy drinks. Are you pregnant or breastfeeding, do you take medication or have a medical condition? Then talk to your doctor first. Store yerba mate in a cool, dry and dark place.
Curious about matcha too? Have a look at our matcha, from culinary to ceremonial grade.
