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(still experimental; fidging with the ratios.)
The syrup is based on the cold brew. You can try to boil tea directly into the syrup to get it done faster, but in my tests, starting from the cold brew tastes better.
Mix cold water with the leaves and leave it overnight for 12 hours. You want the result to be dark and intense; if it looks light, let it brew for long. Sieve the leaves.
You can drink this diluted at 1:3 or more, mix in flavourings etc. Goes great with sparkling water, syrup and ice.
Open the storage jars, put them and their lids in the pot, cover with water and bring to a boil for 5min. This will help the syrup keep longer.
Put the sugar in the cooking jar, add the cold brew and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. You should find the sugar easy to dissolve once it’s hot. Let it simmer for 5min. Pour the syrup into the storage jars, close them as soon as the steam isn’t visible, and store in the fridge still hot.
Use as you would any syrup, diluted with water, on soda machines etc.
Keep for 6 months.
South Americans drink mate like coffee: ground into a fresh green powder. You put a bunch into a gourd, pour hot water, and drink it with a filter-straw. A single gourd can take dozens of pourings, which we share with friends over small talk. Everybody drinks from the same gourd and straw and herb (but not the same water).
In Europe for some reason vendors sell dark, dried flaked leaves, like green tea. They’re marketed with South American imagery and even instructions for preparing in a gourd (which is impossible, because leaf flakes float). This is what we would call ‘mate tea’, not mate proper (=yerba mate, chimarrão). Mate tea is much bitterer than mate, and the flavour is kinda boring, less interesting than green tea. I accidentally bought a couple bags of European-style mate tea before I gave up and resorted to importing Brazilian ground mate. The recipes above were developed trying to find something useful to do with all these dry leaves, when I have several girlfriends addicted to mate soft drinks like Mio Mio or Club Mate.