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Posted April 18 at 5:40 am by Maggie Dutton

Yerba Mate has come a long way, baby. It seems like just a few years ago it was just a weird fringe health nut beverage, drunk out of a gourd with a silver straw (I'm sure Uptight Seattleite would say he's been drinking it for years). There's one beverage that could just make yerba mate a star: the Yerba Mate Latte. (I can't say this phrase without doing it in Kramer's voice.)

Cafe au mate is probably the better term. This drink is equal parts steeped mate and foamed milk, but I think soy milk tastes more appropriate and adds a natural sweetness. Whenever I've tried mate, I can't get past the fact that it dries out my entire tongue. With tea, you usually just feel the tannin in the back of the mouth, but with mate, it can feel and taste like someone just scraped your tongue with green-tea soaked bark. Not pleasant. The soy milk counters that texture and tones down mate's decidedly twiggy flavor. Remedy Teas is the best place to experiment, as you're sure to get a drink that's just right. They also have different blends of mate, if you want to ease yourself into the beverage (two words: cocoa mate).

Why would you want to? Mate is vitamin and anti-oxidant rrrrich. On the caffeine richter scale, mate is somewhere between black tea and coffee, but typically, mate is much gentler on the stomach. Mate allegedly also provides this boost of caffeinated beverages, without the backlash—no coffee shakes or heart racing or digestive distress.

Companies like Guayaki market various forms of mate, both loose leaf and premade beverages sold in Snapple sized jars. Guayai also has a pretty comprehensive dish on yerba mate on their website. I've found their cold mate beverage doesn't quite give me the same physical response as something steeped fresh, though. Pixie has a spiced mate concentrate, sold alongside their chai mix in tetra pack. This is a great way to take advantage of mate's health benefits, while disguising its barkiness by a little bit of sugar, and if you're a chai drinker you'll love it. Cafes and groceries all around town are adding mate in at least one of these forms to the roster.

I'm trying to go all yerba all week next week, to see if I can see a difference in it's effects. But, historical ceremony aside, you still won't see me drinking it out of a cockamamie gourd.

Topics: Tea

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Posted April 7 at 7:45 pm by Maggie Dutton

Am I the only one who longs for a gin and tonic or otherwise potent, adult libation to back up my pot of Bombay Select? Clearly not. The Panama Tea & Coffee House in the I.D. has applied for a liquor license, beer, wine AND spirits. Please join me in supporting this decision, if only that it keeps the strollers away...

Panama Tea & Coffee House
607 South Main Street
Mon-Sat 8am to 11pm
Sun 9am to 9pm
www.panamahotelseattle.com

Topics: Tea

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Posted Feb. 29 at 5:00 pm by Mike Seely

That's what the LA Times is insinuating here, with a nice plug for Miro on Ballard Ave.

Topics: Tea

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Posted Dec. 20, 2007 at 2:17 pm by Adriana Grant

Photo by Adriana Grant

I appreciate that so many cafes around town offer loose leaf tea for those of us who want (or need) a coffee alternative. Trouble is, many places serve way too much of the stuff. Generally speaking, a fat teaspoon will do ya.

This is my brew after a scant thirty second steep. Inky potent. I found myself hopped up for the rest of the afternoon, caffeine jittery. I won't name names, but the shop I went to is not alone is overstuffing its tea bags.

Less next time, please.

Topics: Tea

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