A healthy alternative to coffee and other herbal teas (Mate (Beverage))

Member Name: alexlea88

Product:	Mate (Beverage)
Date:	10/08/09 (9 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No nasty coffee-like side effects

Disadvantages: Definatley an acquired state

first found out about yerba mate from Men's Health. I'd been drinking a lot of coffee at work and was looking for something to break my dependency!

Yerba mate, the article stated, was a South American green tea from the holly family, which was drunk by Argentinean gauchos whilst on the range. Not only is it about as close to a replacement for coffee without the side effects (tetchiness, bloated feeling and gut rot!) but it also contains 200 active ingredients and has been touted as a possible aid to weight loss.

Anyway, I thought I'd give it a blast and bought some tea bags (rather than the loose tea) from the Home Herbs website.

I must admit, it's definitely an acquired taste as a few people have pointed out. The taste is a kind of green tea taste, but distinctively more vegetable-ly. The fist few times I drank it were definitely a leaning experience, but as with most things, after a while you kind of get used to it. I must admit, it doesn't give you a swift kick to the head like coffee, but it does give you a pep. Maybe I've spent too long on the coffee and need bigger hits! Either way, I'm off the coffee now (apart from weekends!) and am feeling better for it.

I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone looking for an alternative to tea and coffee, of for people who like green and herbal teas. Home Herbs have variations available with redbush, ginger, chai and a roasted mate tea, which is a real acquired taste - very strong and smokey.

Summary: South America's best kept secret