Summer Time is upon us and here are some cool yerba mate drink ideas:

Cold Steeped Yerba Mate Tea

Use 1 cup of loose yerba mate tea for every gallon of tea you want to make (can be adjusted based on how strong you want your mate tea to be). Let the grounds steep in cool water overnight (in or out of the fridge). Strain in the morning and refrigerate.

Enjoy cold steeped yerba mate tea plain or with your choice of sweetener (our Mascavo organic unrefined sugar tastes great in mate and dissolves easily in cold mate tea).

OR: You can do any variety of things to your yerba mate base. You can add 1 to 1 1/2 cans (per gallon of mate) of frozen juice concentrate (rasberry, peach, grape, etc) or frozen lemonade. No extra sweetener is normally needed.

Experiment, there's so much you can do with Mate Factor yerba mate!

Cold Steeped Mate on the Go

Place one or two yerba mate tea bags in a bottle of cold water and let them sit for 10 minutes or so. Add lemon, lime, or sweetener as desired.

Sun Mate

You can also make delicious sun brewed mate tea. Take the standard 1 cup of loose yerba mate per gallon and leave it in the sun for a few hours. Strain and refrigerate.

Summer Specialty Flavors

Several of our yerba mate blends are especially good on a hot summer day:


• Lemon Ginger Yerba Mate: Our Original Green Yerba Mate blended with lemon myrtle and ginger root for a bold, refreshing mate tea! All certified ingredients.Available in bulk tea bags and loose mate tea.


• Hibiscus Lime Yerba Mate: Our Original Green Yerba Mate blended with Hibiscus and dried desert lime for a delightfully fruity yet energizing tea! Hibiscus is naturally high in Vitamin C, which makes this tea a healthy immune booster. Hibiscus Lime Mate is also available in bulk tea bags and loose mate tea.


• Cold Steeped Dark Roast Yerba Mate: (See Directions Above) Our Original Green Yerba Mate blended with Roasted Mate, Chicory, Barley, and Carob for a iced mocha delight! Add milk and your favorite sweetener (or a scoop of ice cream for a tasty desert). Dark Roast Yerba Mate is also available in bulk tea bags and loose mate tea.

Tereré

Tereré is an infusion of yerba mate (erva-mate in Portuguese), but made with cold water instead of hot water, and in a slightly larger vessel. It is commonly drunk in Paraguay and also in northeastern Argentina and southern and western Brazil.

When not prepared with plain cold water, citrus fruit juices are commonly used, depending on the region. Although mixing fruit juices with tereré is common in northeastern Argentina and Brazil, it is rare in Paraguay. Lime and orange juices are often used in Argentina and Paraguay, while lime and pineapple juices are more commonly used in Brazil.

In the scorching climate of Paraguay, tereré is believed superior to any other drink, especially on a hot day. Paraguans consider this a very low-calorie beverage to be an excellent way to refresh the body.