I love both Indian chai tea and Turkish apple tea. Chai tea is strong and scented with cardamom and cloves. Turkish apple tea (elma cay) is golden, refreshing and tastes quite like apple juice. This recipe combines the best of both teas – the aromatic spices from chai tea and the bright apple flavor of apple tea. Serve this tea cold in a tall glass with ice on a hot summer afternoon. Or serve it warm in tea cups on a chilly autumn day. 

Use a good quality loose leaf black tea. I used assam tea. If you dont have loose leaf tea, you could use tea bags instead. You’ll also need some apple juice and spices – cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Star anise or saffron will also be nice..use whatever spices you like.  

We discovered this hot, green tea-like South American drink when we visited Argentina. Yerba mate was everywhere Argentina. In the evenings, families flocked to Buenos Aires’ parks with mate gourd and a flask of hot water in hand. Shopkeepers stood by their stalls sipping yerba mate from its bombilla or straw. People socialized over yerba mate. At a house party, when I asked for tea, I was given yerba mate…by a very handsome Argentinean.

This being Argentina’s national drink, I had to bring back some yerba mate and a couple of mate gourds from my trip. I didnt realize till now that I hadnt shared pictures of my yerba mate and mate gourds with you. So here is my yerba mate post!

Spot the mate gourd picture that has a reflection of me!

A mate maker carving gourds & an olive vendor enjoying yerba mate in Mendoza, Argentina.

‘Yerba’ means herb and ‘mate’ is the gourd used to drink yerba mate. So the drink literally means ‘herb in a cup’. True to its name, Yerba mate tastes like strong, earthy, somewhat bitter green tea.

Research shows that yerba mate has cancer fighting, antidepressant and energy boosting properties. If you’ve ever used Biofreeze – a topical muscle and joint pain reliever – you have experienced yet another medicinal property of yerba mate. Biofreeze, by the way, works like magic for aches and sprains; I HIGHLY recommend it. Biofreeze is so incredibly effective only because it is made from yerba mate! It contains Ilex, which is the botanical name for yerba mate!

How to make and drink yerba mate

The dried leaves and stems of the yerba mate plant are brewed like a tea in hot water and enjoyed in special mate gourds and straws (bombillas). The mate gourd is a hollowed out, dried vegetable. The outside of the gourd ranges from simple, plain black to beautiful carvings or ornamental enamel work. Mate drinkers use special straws because the drink is not strained before drinking. Instead, the straws come fitted with little strainers.

Here are step by step instructions on how to brew yerba mate from guayaki.com

1. Pack the dry loose yerba mate into the gourd just over half-full.

2. Place your hand on the top of the half-filled gourd and turn it upside-down. Shake the more powdery leaves to the top of the gourd with several flicks of the wrist.

3. Turn the gourd onto its side and give it several light shakes back and forth. This action will bring the larger stems to the surface.

4. Insert the bombilla (straw-like filter) into the gourd. Gently roll the gourd over until the mate levels off and some of the larger stems cover the bottom of the bombilla helping to filter.

5. Add fresh cool water and allow it to sit for a few minutes in order to moisten the mate. The cool water protects the nutrients and flavor of the mate.

6. After the mate absorbs the water and swells, add hot water.

7. The mate gourd can be refilled 15-20 times

You could ofcourse, skip the mate gourd and strain and drink your mate from a cup. If you do decide to go the traditional route and use a mate gourd, you might want to cure the gourd first.

How to cure a mate gourd

If you are using a mate gourd, you will have to cure it first. Since the mate cup is a hollowed out, dried vegetable, the mate will taste bitter if drunk from an uncured gourd. But curing a gourd is easy. Fill it half way with lose yerba mate. Then fill the gourd with hot water. Let it stand for a whole day. Pour out the yerba mate and water and air dry the gourd. You are now ready to enjoy yerba mate in your gourd.

If you don’t mind bitter yerba mate, you don’t have to cure the gourd.

Where to buy Yerba mate

You can buy yerba mate in grocery stores like Wholefoods. It comes in 3 forms – 1.loose leaf (what I have), 2.tea bags or 3.already brewed, flavored, bottled beverage.

You can also buy all forms of mate including some innovative drinks like mate latte, gourds, straws and accessories on http://www.guayaki.com/

Any south Indian family will know how to make and enjoy a good cup of coffee. The day always starts with a stainless steel tumbler full of strong, sweet, frothy coffee. But not in my family. Most my family are tea drinkers. Serious tea drinkers at that. Tea time at my grandmother’s house in India is an elaborate affair reminiscent of the British era. Every morning and evening, tea is carefully brewed and poured into a bone china tea pot with pink roses on it. A matching creamer with full fat milk, tea cups with saucers, little teaspoons and sugar are all placed on a tray. The tray is then ceremoniously placed on a teapoy before my grandmother. The tea is mixed, Marie biscuits are dunked and the slurping starts.

One day my grandmother offered a sip of tea to my 13 year old cousin, T. He loved it and wanted more. Then there was a great discussion whether a 13 year old boy should be drinking tea or not. But T had his way. And from that day on, my cousin had his daily tea, with his own little teapot, tray and teapoy. He is 35 now and still takes his tea with the same pomp and ritual.

Me…I’m not into 19th century teapoys or pretty British teapots. But I do have cute mugs and some great tea recipes that will be just perfect for a cold winter’s day.

 

Kashmiri Kahwa (makes 2 cups)

We use to live 3 doors away from a Kashmiri family. Every time we visited them they would offer us Kahwa (or Kehwa) – Kashmiri green tea spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, saffron and walnuts. The saffron gives the tea a beautiful golden, honey color. The walnuts impart a delightful buttery flavor.

Green Tea – 1 tsp (I used Chinese gunpowder tea)
Cloves – 2
Cardamom – 3
Cinnamon – 1/2 tsp powdered or 1 stick
Walnuts – 4
Saffron – a pinch
Sugar to taste
Water – 2 1/2 cups

Coarsely chop the walnuts. Using the back of a wooden spoon, lightly crush the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon stick, if using.

Place the water, crushed cardamom, cloves and cinnamon in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and gently boil the water for about 5 minutes. Then add the green tea. Immediately turn off the heat. Let the tea steep in the water for about 2 minutes. Stir in sugar. Strain the tea.

To serve, divide the walnuts and saffron and place in tea cups or mugs. Pour tea over the saffron and walnut pieces.

Moroccan Mint Tea
(makes 2 cups)

We first had this refreshing mint tea when we went to Morocco. The tea was ubiquitous – every home and every shop always served a glass. We were even offered mint tea in the middle of the sahara dessert!

Green Tea – 1 tsp (I used Chinese gunpowder tea)
Mint – about 5 sprigs
Sugar to taste
Water – 2 cups

Bring the water to a boil in a pot. Turn off heat and add the green tea. Let tea steep about 2 minutes. Add sugar and mix well. Strain the tea.

Place the mint sprigs in tea cups or mugs. You’ll need to use about 2 full sprigs of mint per medium sized cup/mug. This might seem like a lot of mint, but that’s what imparts flavor to the tea.

Pour hot tea over the mint and serve immediately.