Where Did Mate Come From Again?

Author: Durango Walker

02.16.10

When you consider the history of Yerba Mate, one can’t over look its significance to the native culture of South America. Steeped (pardon the pun) in a rich history of discovery and festival, Yerba Mate is a symbol of the richness of the people who drink Mate.The Facts:
Yerba Mate was first scientifically classified by Swiss botanist Moses Bertoni, who settled in Paraguay in 1895. The plant is grown and processed mainly in South America, more specifically in Northern Argentina (Corrientes, Misiones), Paraguay, Uruguay and southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul). The Guaraní are reputed to be the first people who cultivated the plant; the first Europeans to do this were Jesuit missionaries, who spread the drinking habit as far as Ecuador and Southern Chile.

Drinks, And Variety:
The infusion called mate is prepared by steeping dry leaves (and twigs) of yerba mate in hot water, rather than in boiling water like black tea. Drinking mate with friends from a shared hollow gourd (also called a guampa in Spanish, or cabaça or cuia in Portuguese) with a metal straw (a bombilla in Spanish, bomba in Portuguese) is a common social practice in Argentina,^[3]^[4] Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, eastern Bolivia and southern and western Brazil ^[5] and has been cultivated in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

The Health Benefits:
In mouse studies^[20]^[21], ilex paraguensis tea has been shown to lessen the tendency towards obesity induced by a high-fat diet. Consumption of yerba mate ( Ilex paraguariensis ) improves serum lipid parameters in healthy dyslipidemic subjects and provides an additional LDL-cholesterol reduction in individuals on statin therapy.

Research shows that yerba maté preparations can alter the concentration of members of the ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase (E-NTPDase) family, resulting in an elevated level of extracellular ATP, ADP, and AMP. This was found with chronic ingestion (15 days) of an aqueous yerba mate extract, and may {OR} lead to a novel mechanism for manipulation of vascular regenerative factors, i.e., treating heart disease.

In an investigation of yerba mate antioxidant activity, there was a correlation found between content of caffeoyl-derivatives and antioxidant capacity (AOC). Amongst a group of Ilex species, Ilex paraguariensis antioxidant activity was the highest.

Thank you to Wikipedia for all the great data… I even learned some about Mate!

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Updating Your Facebook Page And Turn Into The Popular One As A Pixie Mate Fan

Author: Durango Walker

02.03.10

Everyone is a fan of something, right? So why not show your “fan-ness” by going to the Pixie Mate page on Facebook.com. Pixie Mate has over 100 fans, but they need more. The process is easy: go to the page, click on “become a fan” and you’re done.

If there was anything you could do to improve your standing in the Facebook world, this would be it… Seriously, stop reading this blog and become a fan!

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Top 5 Tea Resolutions

Author: Durango Walker

01.02.10

OK, we all have them, or are working on them for 2010. I’m talking about new year resolutions. What are you going to do different than last year, or better? For us Mate’ people, perhaps we should have our own, as we are a very special breed. I’ve listed a few, but feel free to post a comment to add to the list.

Try adding a little “spice” to your Mate’ this year. Yerba Mate‘ now comes in a variety of flavors. If you’re the standard mate-er, try opening up your palate and enjoy the Chai version to start with.
Once a week, try a tea ceremony. The Japanese and other Eastern cultures have wonderful rituals regarding tea. Here is an interesting video of a Japanese tea ceremony. Why not make your tea drinking something special.
Convert a coffee drinker… Enough said!
Pair a meal with Mate’. It can be done; it just hasn’t yet… Check out this website that discusses the topic. Hey, these are resolutions for me too, so I’m learning as well.
DRINK MORE MATE’

Again, post a comment and let’s make a real resolution mix…

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The Feeling Of Panic And Where It Comes From!!!

Author: Durango Walker

12.28.09

This morning I reached for the mate and find that it is GONE! AHH… OK, what to do, I think to myself. Tea bag, I must still have some tea bags… Thankfully, they are still there in my hiding place. With company in town over the holidays, a new important to do item: BUY MORE MATE!

Have a wonderful new year!

Thank you to http://www.flickr.com/photos/brighton/2153602543/ for the great picture!

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Do You Tea Tweet?

Author: Durango Walker

12.10.09

Imagine making your point in only 140 characters? Could you do it? For example, my first sentence was 91 characters. Twitter, an online micro-blogging application, forces its member users to post only 140 characters of information. That’s it, that’s all you got - 140 words and spaces. Yet, this communication medium has taken the internet by storm! By the end of 2009, Twitter is expected to have over 18 million users. The great news: some of those members are mate’ drinkers!

Below are a collection of “tweets”, or Twitter feeds from tea/mate’ lovers:

calpoly Cal Poly Biz Alum’s Guyaki-Yerba Mate company profiled in TIME magazine http://bit.ly/17hpRh

Dude, this morning I was deep in the moutains of Peru with a Yerba Mate Royale with 72% Caco Ghirardelli Chocolate

rockseameenor Yerba Mate, Beirut, Landscape drawing. Lovveelly afternoon!

PadidehTime Feeling better. Drinking yerba mate & reading Clean. Dr. Junger educates the reader to the importance of a toxic free body in a toxic world.