Mate tea is popular due to its unique taste and high content of nutrients. However, all the positive characteristics of this drink are inherent only in a quality product.
We have collected all the information about how this tea happens, where it grows and how to choose a quality mate to get all the benefits of this wonderful drink.
Where to grow and how to produce the best mate tea
Mate herbal tea is made from dried leaves and shoots of Paraguayan holly, which grows throughout South America.
The best plantations of this evergreen tropical tree, Ilex Paraguariensis, are in the fertile lands of Argentina.
Regardless of where they grow, be it Brazil, Paraguay, or Argentina, all manufacturers adhere to strict processing principles.
After harvesting, the raw materials are delivered as quickly as possible to the manufacturer's plant to prevent the start of the fermentation process, then processed in several stages:
- ventilation of leaves on site;
- a stage of pre-drying in the room with a special oven for gradual loss of moisture. This is the secret of production - the leaves are not dried in the sun, as in the production of other types of tea - puer , for example;
- coarsely ground dried leaves;
- linen bag packing;
- 9 to 24 months exposure;
- final grinding process, preparation for packaging - screening stems, dust, petioles, mixing them in the required proportion;
- packaging process.
Mate tea can be purchased from our online store .
And we also have South African tea Roybush
How to identify and select a quality mate
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A high-quality mate must be seasoned to preserve all vitamins and minerals. It happens that unscrupulous manufacturers, bypassing the long stage of aging, export products for quick profit.
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On store shelves you can find mate with a three-month exposure. Such a drink has the least quality, but meets the demand for a cheaper product.
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A high-quality mate with the highest amount of caffeine has dust particles in the placer that appear during the production process. In a quality product, they are 3%.
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A description on the manufacturer's packaging with the date of manufacture and packaging will help you choose a high-quality mate. This information will help you avoid buying both overexposed and spoiled tea.
In addition to the listed main features of a quality mate, there are other ways to determine a good product:
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aged mat can be determined by weight. It is much heavier than not sustained. That is, when buying a large package of tea, its weight should not be light;
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Full-aging mate has a rich smoky aroma, while unaged tea has a pale color and weak aroma;
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High-quality mate, observing the optimal proportions of leaves and dust-like particles during brewing, gives the drink a rich color and allows you to brew one serving up to 4-5 times. With a large content of dust particles in the package, the infusion turns out to be too saturated, but loses taste when re-brewing.
In & ldquo; Russian Tea Company & rdquo; You can buy both classic mate and supplemented with natural additives and aromatic oils.
Natural ingredients give the drink a pleasant aroma of strawberry, lemon or mint, without muffling the natural taste of Paraguayan mate.
To make a drink, you will need special dishes - calabash and bombilla , which can also be purchased on the company's website. We deliver to Moscow and Russian regions.