Argentine mate in Calgary?

[Isaiah]

Im looking for a coffee shop or tea house in Calgary that serves mate (Argentine tea) in the gourd as you would get it in Argentina. I know that several coffee shops have it but all of the ones I know of serve it in a mug with a tea bag like regular tea.

Any suggestions?

[G-ZUS]

Mate with a tea bag? Wow they butchered that one

[R-Audi]

Cafe Artigiano serves it to you in a coffee pot with a suspended metal basket... Its strong as hell... Im bouncing off the walls after a pot of that.

I think the problem is that you have to have one of those metal filtered straws to serve it authentically....so basically it is filtered somewhere.. whether its a tea bag, straw or in the tea pot.

Maybe head to Steeps and buy your own to drink at home?

[Isaiah]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
Mate with a tea bag? Wow they butchered that one
Yes. Ridiculous.

[Isaiah]

[i]Originally posted by R-Audi [/B]I think the problem is that you have to have one of those metal filtered straws to serve it authentically....so basically it is filtered somewhere.. whether its a tea bag, straw or in the tea pot.

Maybe head to Steeps and buy your own to drink at home? [/B]
It does have to be filtered I agree but the teqbag method, "cosido," just feels wrong and really affects the bonding experience.

I do drink it at home but sometimes I'm out and about and need a fix on the go.

[R-Audi]

Bonding Experience?

[Isaiah]

Originally posted by R-Audi
Bonding Experience?
In Argentina, where drinking mate originated, it is considered a bonding experience shared between family and friends in the morning or afternoon. The bonding part comes into play because the container and 'bombilla' are shared between everyone present (as opposed to coffee or tea where everyone gets their own cup:

Mate is traditionally drunk in a particular social setting, such as family gatherings or with friends. This is called a "roda de chimarrão" in Portuguese. In Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, the same gourd (cuia) and straw (bomba/bombilla) are used by everyone drinking. One person (known in Portuguese as the preparador[citation needed], cevador or patrão, and in Spanish as the cebador) assumes the task of server.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage)

[G-ZUS]

I like drinking my mate with a shisha

[R-Audi]

Interesting. Guess Ive never thought of getting tea for the bonding experience... Ive been missing out! Back at AR I go...

[ricosuave]

fyi superstore sells the mate in bags too

[RY213]

Ive wanted to try this ever since I read The Motorcycle Diaries years ago...

[Muji]

Contact the in-the-know owners of this Calgary based website, they do respond quickly.

http://argentineprod.com/Products.html

[Tik-Tok]

From the title, I thought the OP was looking for something like this

http://www.megaredargentina.com/programacion.html

[Jeff TYPE R]

Originally posted by ricosuave
fyi superstore sells the mate in bags too

Bump. Checked SS in Westhills tonight and I couldn't find it. :dunno:

[BMDUBS]

Its funny this thread came up. I am currently in Uruguay coming from Argentina and I cant get over nor understand this whole Mate craze. I guess I can liken it to the Canadian obsession with coffee and Tim Hortons. I have not tried it yet but its 30 degrees out and a significant number of people are walking down the street with a thermos filled with hot water under their arm and the Mate in the other. There are guys with custom made sets with hand crafted leather carrying totes. I assume it has some way of stimulating you for it to be this wildly popular?

A relative here is set to introduce me to the 'experience' today as we are going on a bit of a road trip. I will reserve my comments on it till I try it but it is uncanny how entrenched this is in the local culture.

[JRSC00LUDE]

^
Awesome. I want to hear your report! :thumbsup:

[Russo]

Originally posted by BMDUBS
Its funny this thread came up. I am currently in Uruguay coming from Argentina and I cant get over nor understand this whole Mate craze. I guess I can liken it to the Canadian obsession with coffee and Tim Hortons. I have not tried it yet but its 30 degrees out and a significant number of people are walking down the street with a thermos filled with hot water under their arm and the Mate in the other. There are guys with custom made sets with hand crafted leather carrying totes. I assume it has some way of stimulating you for it to be this wildly popular?

A relative here is set to introduce me to the 'experience' today as we are going on a bit of a road trip. I will reserve my comments on it till I try it but it is uncanny how entrenched this is in the local culture.

Used to live in Argentina, love mate, the water doesn't have to be hot (but usually is), you will find some ppl actually adding cold water in the summer :)


a middle east store (located on 17th ave and 37 st by the tims sells Argentine mate (bags of herb).

[Kritafo]

I buy my mate at http://www.totalitea.com/offer.html it's the loose stuff they have the gourds and straws as well. The store is in Bankers Hall


I buy the lemon

[BMDUBS]

Ok So I had the Mate the other day. We had the Gourd and my dads friend loaded it up with the Mate before he got there so i did not see how that was done.

What I did observe was that the ground leaves were pushed to one side of the Gourd and the straw was poking out of the free or empty side. We filled the free side with hot (steaming water) and sipped it till the gourd was empty. As we were driving my dad had the duty of filling the Gourd with more hot water from a thermos with a pump on it. Not to be too full as to spill but enough to soak the leaves. I got the impression that your turn with the Gourd consisted of draining the water in the Gourd?

I was told by my dad's friend that is local that you should let it brew a bit before you sip and that the water should be warm as opposed to hot. Do not use the straw to stir the grinds either as it can loosen up powder from the leaves that cannot be filtered.

To me it tasted like a strong black tea. It was enjoyable but I believe it is solely a cultural practice. Seems like a lot of work to prepare (preparing the Mate in the Gourd and boiling the water for the thermos and carrying all this gear) and I dont have time or patience for that shit in my Calgary life. I will continue to have it here and see what the apparent caffine benefit is as that is supposed to be the stimulant/benefit of drinking Mate?

[Isaiah]

At one time it was considered one of the healthiest things you can drink. That was before green tea and coconut water became more mainstream.

As posted earlier, in addition to the cultural experience and flavour, it has become very entrenched into some cultures; Argentine and Uruguayan in particular. So much is that the case that if you attend an Argentine BBQ, such as the annual 9th of July BBQ (celebrating Argentina's independence), you will actually see people here with the underarm thermos and walking around with the mate on the go.

[Jeff TYPE R]

I found some at Community. The brand was Guayaki and I'm happy with it. Tasty, and if you aren't careful, you can get a huge dose of caffeine.

I use a silicone gourd: http://www.matemateo.com/

[phreezee]

Tried this for the first time at Chiasso and although it was served in a regular paper cup it was quite good and a nice change from the asian teas I'm used to.