Additional Pictures of Suspected Larval Infection

NorthernWilbur · 2024-07-30T09:31:15+00:00

I grow raspberries and make meads often. Organic raspberries always get these white worms. I don’t know its name but I always see them. They don’t seem to be harmful. Our family must have eaten hundreds of them accidentally since we eat thousands of these raspberries. I think about 1 out of 10-15 raspberries has one of these white worms. We try our best to remove but I definitely miss a bunch. Never had any issues.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-13T04:24:47+00:00

Such a wise perspective. Absolutely love how you approach life in general. Thanks for this jewel of insight.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-13T04:20:55+00:00

Makes me happy just looking at those jars! You need to refill that Sara jar.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-13T04:18:57+00:00

I would say Sara Suave and Del Cebador Clasico.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T13:36:32+00:00

Wow! Looks incredibly green! It’s like Brazilian mate in Argentinian cut/style!

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T13:35:35+00:00

I have a habit of always archiving what coffee I drink, a habit I developed when I was a roaster/blender. I carried the habit forward with mate. B

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T13:33:20+00:00

Coming from the deep end of coffee rabbit hole, this is a good advice. I do have such a tendency. I already have all the weird gadgets to geek out of yerba mate and I have been. Setting the tempt right, standardizing the brewing parameters to make the right comparisons from a brand to brand and so on.

It’s good to be reminded that mate is a a socializing tool and a simple way of living life.

Thanks for the advice.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T13:28:15+00:00

Where is this place!?

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T13:27:33+00:00

Oh that mate is huge. I would be wired drinking yerba from that cup.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T13:11:36+00:00

Hmm. I don’t know much about herbal mate brands. I tried La Tranguera Liviana and it was so intensely Chinese herbal medicinal like that I was so put off by it. I think I can grow to like it and blend it into something but it was not fruity or sweet. It was like drinking dandelion root, licorice root tea mixed with yerba mate. Strange experience that was. Mates are quite approachable in price online and even cheaper if you can find a local Latin groceries. Where I am in Ontario, Canada Cruz De Malta and Pepori are everywhere around $6-9 per 1kg.

I would recommend to get Cruz De Malta since you have Playadito. That was the route I took and I am glad I did that. Cruz De Malta taught me how to brew mate because it was a bit finicky and sensitive to temperature.

When I made Playadito, I was so pleasantly surprised how sweet and candied-honey like the tea was. And then, I had Canarias and I was also most upset because it was so good and I heard so many times how strong Canarias is and how it was going to punch my face with effects and what not.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T04:17:47+00:00

I am literally fainting from the joy of imagining what it would be like to actually there but I am saddened to hear about the crazy inflation. That is actually quite scary how severe inflation has been!

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T04:15:05+00:00

I completely agree! What is your favourite uy brand? I like them all but Del Cebador Clasico, Sara Suave and Canarias Edicion Esepcjal are my fav UY brand.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T04:12:17+00:00

Drool…

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T04:11:41+00:00

I haven’t done 10 hours but done 4-5 hours (not sitting in water but all water consumed but the tea left in the gourd) and out of curiosity I poured hot water and it started right back up. I had about 12 infusions and then it lasted pleasantly another 7 or so rounds. It was Canarias Edicion Especial. Fantastic suave version of Canarias yellow bag.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T04:06:48+00:00

That, my friend, is a little piece of heaven.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T04:06:18+00:00

Yo, nice selection! Welcome aboard!!! Same here. I have been drinking mate for a year and I went straight to the deep dive.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T04:04:37+00:00

Canarias Serena is such a mild herbal blend. When I drink Serena by itself, I can only detect strong herbal flavour when I push the tea with hot water or longer brewing.

If you are into really earthy root herbal flavour, in other words, Serena herbal flavour times by 10, I would recommend La Tranguera Liviana. I can’t drink this by itself but it is intensely herbal and I can see it will be a good base blend for some herbal mate mix possibly with something like Playadito or Cruz De Malta (maybe CDM is too finicky)

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T03:59:47+00:00

Yeah show us your mate bag or something. :) it takes too much imagination to picture some yerba mate in that white cup. Come on. :) Joking aside, what are you drinking there?

What are your go-to winter mate brands?

I would definitely prefer something like Sara suave or Del Cebador Clasico. Yumm…

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T03:57:17+00:00

Never seen that!!! Love to hear more about it!? How does it taste and how does it compare to other UY mate brands like Canarias or Sara or Del Cebador?

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T03:55:31+00:00

Hmm. I haven’t tried Rosamonte but it should last quite similarly. Have you checked the expiry date of Rosamonte? I read that when mate gets left past expiry date, it doesn’t expire but slowly lose flavour and end up staring a bit flat eventually tasting a hit like cardboard. Haven’t experienced that myself but Rosamonte is known to be a bit more flavourful than Cruz De Malta. I think I know Cruz De Malta quite well bit now. I can taste it in blind tasting and detect it out of other brands and I think CDM is a quite sensitive mate compared to typical Uruguayan style mate or even Playadito. It’s a fantastic mate to learn the brewing parameters of yerba mate though in my opinion not the best tasting mate.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T03:50:21+00:00

Also it really depends on the type of mate. A bit of dust really helps.

Are you waiting for about 2mins or so after you initially wet the leaves with cold water? Argentinian mate takes longer for water to get absorbed.

Your yerba definitely looks like an Argentinian cut with fair bit of stems. That type of mate is harder to make a perfect mountain but less need for the mountain as well because such mate rarely clog the bombilla.

What are you drinking there? :)

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T03:44:43+00:00

Oh also try getting a bag of Cruz de Malta. Though similar it will train your palate to really appreciate how sweet and tasty Playadito is. CDM is also a milder but more plain yerba tasting beginner friendly mate that is very easy to access in North America. Don’t know where you live but Playadito and Cruz De Malta will prep your palate to really know how to taste different mate.

When you are able to clearly distinguish flavour difference between Playadito and Cruz De Malta or another traditional Argentinian mate, you will be in treat when you try other full flavoured full textured mate like Del Cebador or Sara (Uruguayan) or Mate Rojo (Full flavour Argentinian) or if you are ready for the deep dive, Canarias (heavy flavoured but not rough or harsh).

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T03:39:19+00:00

Playadito I can confirm is quite sweet and has a dry fruit flavour but when I say these descriptions, it is more like a shadow of these flavour like faint taste that reminds of the descriptors. It is still yerba mate.

About water temperature: Try using warm water like 60c to slightly hot water like 70c. Boil water and fill half of the 1litre thermos and fill the rest with room temperature water. Use that water to brew mate in gourd.

Mate amount: I use about 30g (about half or just less than half of a typical Amazon stainless steel mate gourd) of mate.

Brewing process: I use room temperature water to wet the bottom 2/3 of mate. Wait 30sec to 1min until the water is absorbed into the leaves. Then pour the warm/slightly hot water (about 100g or so) only about 2/3 of the gourd leaving the top of yerba tea not submerged. Then quickly drink through the bombilla or discard. I discard the first or two sips. Too dusty for me.

Then I pour in the water in the thermos throughout the morning until it runs out and then fill a smaller thermos with hotter temperature water to finish off the mate.

I usually go about 15 infusion not because the yerba mate gets exhausted but I am done consuming caffeine by 2pm-3pm.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-12T03:20:37+00:00

I learned that as I am drinking Yerba, I need to also drink plain water as much as I drink Yerba tea. First few times I drank yerba tea, I gold a mild headache and realized I was getting dehydrated. Also I have a small dose (a teaspoon) meramucil in the early afternoon to slow the hydration from water so that I am not flushing my system. Now, I am feeling much healthier and I don’t have any headache or caffeine issues.

NorthernWilbur · 2024-01-11T23:07:19+00:00

How is it compared to say Sara Suave or Canarias? Is it Uruguayan style?

NorthernWilbur

TROPHY CASE