La Merced Yerba Maté

Usselerriet is the distributor for La Merced Yerba Maté in Europe. This green tea is produced in Argentina, where Maté is the national drink. Nearly 85% of the population drinks Maté throughout the day. The ‘La Merced Yerba Maté’ brand is cultivated 100% organically by Establecimiento Las Marias, the world’s largest producer of Yerba Maté. The tea is distinguished by its own characteristic flavor and contains many vitamins and minerals.

Healthy and stimulating
Maté is a stimulating drink. Not because of the caffeine, which is present in very small quantities, but because of the xantheine. It heightens the performance of the brain and body, stimulates concentration and provides vitality and stamina.

Yerba Maté contains significant quantities of potash, sodium and magnesium. Also vitamins B1, B2, C and A, and substances such as riboflavin, carotene, pantothenic acid and inositol.

Where is it sold
The tea is available in different flavors under the trade name ‘La Merced Yerba Maté’ and can be found in health food shops, chemists, specialist coffee and tea shops and a number of supermarket chains. The packets each contain 10 bags of 3 grams.

Flavors:

• Original
• Strawberry – Vanilla
• Mandarin – Orange
• Original loose tea – packet with 250 grams of loose Maté
• Gift package – packet with 250 grams of loose (original) Maté and a bombilla (a hollowed gourd with a straw). This is how the Argentineans drink their Maté.

You can find further information about ‘La Merced Yerba Maté’ or the producer ‘Las Marias’ on the following websites:
· Family concern Establecimento Las Marias
· La Merced Yerba Maté

How do they drink Maté in Argentina?

Some 85% of the population in Argentina drinks Maté. For them it is the ideal way to start the day. In Argentina Maté is still drunk in the traditional manner, from a hollowed gourd (the Maté) with either a bamboo or metal straw (the bombilla). Most Argentineans have their own gourd engraved with their own initials or even decorated with silver attachments. Some of the gourds have been around for generations.

How to prepare

Fill the mate cup (gourd) with Yerba Maté up to 2/3 full.

Cover the gourd with your hand and turn it upside down. Shake it so that the smaller leaf particles go to the top.

Pour a small amount of luke warm water over the leaves.

Let stand for a few seconds and insert bombilla (metal or bamboo straw) firmly until it touches the bottom of the cup. Keep in place at all times and do not move, even while sipping.

Pour hot, but never boiling water on the leaves (about 80 degrees) so much that the top of the Maté stays dry.

Sip the infusion through the bombilla.

The ritual of pouring and drinking is constantly repeating, giving the gourd from one person to another. The pouring is always done by “El Cebador”, the owner of the gourd, who also takes the first sip of the freshly brewed Maté.

A Maté gourd used this way is good for one liter of Maté.

Cold Maté

The younger population in Argentina has discovered a type of “Ice Tea” variety, whereby instead of hot, cold water with on some occasions fruit juice, is added to the Maté. Wonderfully refreshing in the summer!

Due to the Maté tradition everywhere in Argentina you will see people drinking Maté from their thermos flasks; taxi drivers, families in cars, people in offices and so on. Hot water is available free of charge at all petrol stations and Las Marías, the largest producer of Maté in the world, have installed Maté machines, so that people can drink Maté 24/7.

It is hard to imagine daily life in Argentina without Maté.