Yerba Mate Latte

I wanted to share my morning coffee substitute. I don't take the credit for the drink as I discovered this very yummy tasting morning beverage at a local mom & pop cafe. You need:

* loose leaf yerba mate tea (probably bagged one will be fine too, I prefer the loose leaf one as it tastes so much better than the bagged one. Actually I didn't think I like yerba mate until I tried to loose leaf ... the taste is that different).
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 tea spoon honey
* espresso machine

I put the loose leafs in the espresso machine.

I know it sounds weird, but that's one of the recommended ways on the tea package + it is the way my local cofe shop makes it. I let the water run as for a long esspresso.

Then I steam the milk.










I add the honey before the steamed milk and then top it with the milk foam. Yumm!!!!! It is very very good. :)

Side note

Of the six commonly used stimulants in the world: yerba mate, coffee, tea, kola nut, cocoa, and guarana, yerba mate is the healthiest, delivering both energy and nutrition. They say that the mate provides constant energy and do not cause the high energy spike followed by the low that usually coffee induces.

This is the usual way the natives drink it.The natives prepare it by steeping dry leaves (and twigs) of yerba mate in hot water, rather than in boiling water like black tea. Drinking mate with friends from a shared hollow gourd with a metal straw is a common social practice in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil and has been cultivated in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

History: Yerba mate was discovered centuries ago by the indigenous people in South America and has been revered as the “drink of the gods” and consumed to enhance health, vitality, and longevity. With 24 vitamins and minerals, 15 amino acids, abundant antioxidants and naturally occurring caffeine, yerba mate triumphs as nature’s most balanced stimulant.