Yerba Mate AeroPress: The Cleanest Brew You're Not Making Yet

Ok, I'm going to say something that might ruffle a few feathers.

You don't have to drink yerba mate the traditional way.

There. I said it.

Now before you close the tab... hear me out. Because I say this as someone who speaks Spanish, has several friends from Argentina and Chile, and has a deep love for the culture around sharing this South American tea with friends and groups. 

Still here? Good. Let's go there.

The Traditional Way is Beautiful. It's Also a Lot.

Here's what nobody tells you when you start romanticizing the gourd and the bombilla at your desk.

It's messy.

The loose leaf goes everywhere. The temperature window is narrow. If you leave the wet leaves overnight... let's just say I've had some truly yucky cleanups. The straw gets gunky in ways I'd rather not describe in detail. And the metal filter on the bombilla? It does its job, but you're still getting a lot of dust particles through. Every sip. Sitting in your mouth. Coating your throat.

It's kind of like Turkish coffee in that way. What goes in the cup goes in you. Which is fine! But if you've ever had Turkish coffee and felt like you were chewing the last sip, you know what I mean. Sure, you can perfect the position of the straw... but that amount of focus is distracting day after day.

I'm a paper filter guy at heart. I love a clean brew. My coffee rotation includes the AeroPress, the V60, a Chemex, a Kalita Wave... I love the clarity you get from paper. No sediment. No residue. Just clean, bright flavor, even at the bottom of the cup.

So naturally, I tried to make mate that way...

Every Paper Filter Method Failed

Pour over. Didn't work. The powder coated the paper and the water just... stopped. Standing there waiting for it to drip through. Nothing.

Drip coffee pot. Also no. Same story.

Any method where gravity was supposed to do the work, the mate said: not today.

Here's what I learned: yerba mate is so fine and powdery that the second it hits water, it coats whatever surface it touches. Every pore of the paper. Every hole in the filter. The whole thing just seals up and you're stuck.

Which is why I almost gave up on paper filtering mate entirely.

Then I Remembered the AeroPress.

The AeroPress and Aeropress Go are different because you're not waiting on gravity. You push. You apply pressure through the plunger and force the brew through the filter. And here's the thing... the dust that would normally seal a pour over paper just doesn't have time to fully block the AeroPress filter before you push through.

It still takes slightly more effort than coffee. But not by much. And what comes out is clean. No dust. No particles. No yucky mouthfeel. Just mate, properly filtered, ready to drink.

I brew it, push it through, and pour it straight into my MIIR thermos. Stays hot for hours. No babysitting the temperature. No refilling a gourd every few minutes.

I just bring it to my desk and work.

The Energy Is Still Epic Compared to Coffee

This part hasn't changed from (what I wrote when I first switched from coffee to mate). The energy curve is steady. No jitters. No crash. Just a long, clean lift that keeps going while coffee would've already dropped you off a cliff.

Having a hard time with the bitterness? Try Milk or Lemon. 

This one came from the Yellow Deli in Boulder, Colorado. They were serving a mate latte, which sounds weird, I know. But it rounds off the bitterness in a really beautiful way. If I remember correctly, they even added cinnamon on top.

For a Mate Latte: Make a concentrated portion of mate using the Aeropress. Same amount of leaves (or even a bit more), foam milk and combine. I talk more extensively about milk and mate here.

If you're new to mate and the intensity is a lot, a some milk in there makes it creamy and approachable. After a few sips you'll be surprised how good it is. The combo of Mate and whole milk has now been a lifesaver while I work. It is simple, takes 3 minutes to make, and cleans up effortlessly. 

Another recommendation is adding lemon slices or juice. The heated juice/fruit turns sweet, and adds a lovely element to the drink. Give that a try, iced or hot. I mention lemon and added some photos in my blog I Switched My Morning Coffee with Yerba Mate. Here's What Happened.

What I'm Using

My two favorite mates right now are Rosa Monte and Canarias. Both are solid. I'll drop the links below.

Rosamonte - Inexpensive, classic, accessible. 
Canarias - Lowest amount of powder I've seen so far. 

Balibetov - Organic Yerba Mate. Good Branding and Good Product. 

And the MIIR thermos. Link below too.

You don't need a gourd. You don't need a bombilla. Try your AeroPress Go (if you're on the road) a good bag of organic yerba mate, and maybe a little milk or lemon if you're feeling adventurous.

Try it this week and let me know what happens.

Here's my setup from today:

Cheers friends! I'm off to enjoy mine!