Brazil Yerba Mate Despalada

Brew & Taste

This maté has a light yellow, sparkly infusion with a typical earthy aroma. The flavor is more delicate than that of other plantation maté, yet there are flashes of astringency, a pleasant tartness and the signature earthiness.

Origins

Despalada Green Yerba Maté was "born" in southern Brazil, more specifically in the state of Paraná, bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. It is slightly smaller than Romania, and has a similar climatic conditions.

Paraná has one of the most important subtropical forests of araucarias in the world. The western border of the country is formed by the Paraná river, and the state itself can be divided geographically into the coastal area, the mountains and the plains. The average temperature is around 19⁰C. The climate is characterized by subtropical hot summers and dry winters, with snowfall in the Curitiba region.

Yerba maté, the dried leaves of the Paraguayan holly (Ilex paraguariensis), were first used by the Guarani tribe in the southern part of Brazil. With the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, the drinking of maté exploded in popularity. By the mid-17th century, the Jesuits were so keen on it that they managed to establish new plantations. This led to serious competition, culminating in their expulsion in 1770 and the partial collapse of Paraguayan production. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Brazil took up the baton for the cultivation and processing of holly leaves. Today, it supplies 53% of the world market, followed by Argentina at 37% and Paraguay at 10%.

But back to Despalada Green Yerba Mate. It's made from Paraguayan holly bushes grown on shaded plantations. The leaves and twigs, which were harvested by hand, were stuffed by the farmers into large bags and left to ferment. The process is finished with a short heating period. The yerba is then hot-air dried in special dryers, cut and packed. The resulting product contains 95% leaves and 5% twigs.

Traditional preparation:

Traditionally, mate is prepared in a mate gourd (dried and hollowed-out gourd) and savore hot or chilled through a bombilla (special metal straw).
Add 2-3 teaspoons of leaves into the gourd and cover with slightly warm water to give the leaves a firm consistency.
After a few minutes, cover leaves with hot water and steep for 3 minutes.
Slide a bombilla into the mate gourd and sip the refreshing drink slowly. There is a small strainer at the bottom to prevent any leaves from getting into the straw. Avoid using too much mate to prevent the bombilla from clogging.
You can repeat this process up to 5 times from one batch of mate. However, always re-steep for a maximum of 3 minutes.
Optionally, use sugar, lemon, orange, rum, cognac or milk to flavor.

Tea packaging preview

We pack our teas in a strong, zip-lock aluminum packet which allows you to easily re-seal its contents. This container protects the quality of the tea against humidity, light or foreign odors, all of which could noticeably affect the quality of the brew.