Hungry in Berlin

Some say the world can be split into tea drinkers and coffee drinkers, like cat people and dog people. I say no – not only because I consume copious quantities of both, but because it leaves out my personal addiction, yerba mate.

Here in Berlin, it’s easy to get the wrong idea about this concoction. There’s a soda-like beverage called Club Mate which does technically have mate in it, but it’s ludicrously sweet. I can’t stand it. When I attended hacker camp a few months ago, it was the beverage of choice for folks who were staying up late coding, the way Red Bull is, or Jolt Cola used to be, in the States.

But real yerba mate is something else, the way a good cup of fresh-brewed tea has nothing to do with Lipton’s iced in a can. And it turns out that despite my fears on arrival, it’s pretty easy to find here in Berlin

Yerba mate is a relative of the holly bush, native to the South America. It’s consumed with the regularity of coffee in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay. I’d like to say I got the habit during my lengthy sojourn on the pampas, but really I fell in love with it in a book, tried it, and never stopped.

These days, it’s getting easier to buy in health food stores and cafes, usually in tea bags. You can drink it this way, but I don’t recommend it – it’s far too weak, and you don’t get the full mate experience. The “good” stuff they sell in the markets and health food stores also has the little stems cleaned out of it, so it looks nicer, but in fact you want those in there for the flavor, since they reduce the bitterness.

A real mate is consumed in an actual gourd, about the size of a baseball, through a metal straw called a bombilla. The gourd adds a funky, woody flavor to the bitter tea, giving it a richness you can’t get from a teabag.

A proper drink is prepared thusly (hot drinks are all about rituals, aren’t they?): Loose leaf tea is poured into the gourd, filling it a quarter or halfway. Much more leaf than you’d use in an average teabag. I skimp sometimes, because I’m weak. Pour a tiny bit of water in to wet the leaves, and then put in the bombilla.

Use hot, but not quite boiling water. Pour it down the neck of the straw, so as not to disturb the leaves too much. Don’t stir it, or you risk clogging the filter at the bombilla’s base. Wait for it to cool slightly, and then drink. Some like to add honey or lemon; I prefer it straight.

Gourds are meant to be shared. The first infusion is bitter, and so the host drinks first. The second and third infusions are mellower; these are for the guests. Or, naturally, for the solitary drinker’s seconds and thirds.

Naturally, you can also brew it like ordinary tea. I’ve also used a French press coffeemaker, when my gourd isn’t handy.

As I’ve said, it’s a bitter taste. Most people take a look at the gloopy green result, taste the grassy flavor, and say they’ve had enough, thanks. But once you acquire the taste, it’s as deep and rich a pleasure as a good cup of coffee. And considerably healthier.

According to a recent study (linked here), mate in fact has as many or more antioxidant benefits as green tea. It’s full of caffeine, but doesn’t produce the jitters and sleeplessness that coffee does. And there is something utterly pleasing, like smoking a pipe, about sucking that first mouthful through the warm straw.

So anyway, the deets: You can get what appears to be “high-grade” mate at Kollwitz market, at the spice and tea table, but I’d recommend the real Argentinian stuff. Cruz de Malta is my favorite brand, usually running about 4 euros for 500 grams. It’s cheap stuff. Available at the heavenly smelling Benjowski tee shop at Danziger Str. 3, a few shop doors down from Papelallee, and at the Spanish wholesale market Mitte Meer. La Tranquera is also good.

Benjowski also sells gourds and bombillas. I’m sure other tea shops around Berlin do too; if you’re a mate drinker, or know of another local yerba mate paradise, I’d love to hear from you.

Tags: book, hot drink, market, tea, yerba mate

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