The food of the Gods. That's what the Aztecs called chocolate. Scientifically, theobroma cacao, chocolate is one our favorite ingredients to blend with yerba mate. The actual chocolate nut is known as cacao. Watch out: don't mistake is for the processed chocolate powder known as cocoa (that's the sugary chocolate mix used to bake cakes, cookies, and hot chocolate).
We've used cacao to make a few chocolate yerba mate blends here: Chocolate Prophecy and Roasted Chocolate.
Here are few tips when making your own chocolate yerba mate tea
Chocolate increases the robustness of your mate blend, so carefully gauge how strong you'd like your mate when blending. Using the raw cacao bean or powder will have a lighter taste profile; the roasted counterparts will be sweeter and stronger, increasing the richness and body. Experiment with both to see what you like.
Effects of chocolate
Chocolate has a calming effect that produces mild feelings of euphoria. Thank the generous amounts of theobromine, the excitatory compound in chocolate responsible for that eponymous "feel good" sensation. There hasn't been any studies on this (as far as we know), but the combination of theobromine in chocolate along with mate's natural ability to also produce euphoria, may have a compounding affect and boost those effects further.
Enjoy your chocolatey mate and feel good!
And share your own chocolate mate recipe in the comments.
The food of the Gods. That's what the Aztecs called chocolate. Scientifically, theobroma cacao, chocolate is one our favorite ingredients to blend with yerba mate. The actual chocolate nut is known as cacao. Watch out: don't mistake is for the processed chocolate powder known as cocoa (that's the sugary chocolate mix used to bake cakes, cookies, and hot chocolate).
We've used cacao to make a few chocolate yerba mate blends here: Chocolate Prophecy and Roasted Chocolate.
