An eclipse is a time of introspection....a time to go inside and reflect. Without sounding to esoteric, this is also the function of a good mate, to take the time alone, or together with someone to share a moment. The Guarani were said to sit under the stars and have visions while drinking a mate....
It is easy in our modern day and age to forget about these primeval connections that we humans have with the world around us as we quickly prepare our mate to get that morning fix of energy. But perhaps glimpses of this come in a momentary flash while sipping on one of Meta Mate's lunar legacies.
There are rational explanations to ancient superstitions. Although the mate is an evergreen (meaning that the leaves do not fall in winter) the tree like most life goes into a state of hibernation in winter. If one does not wait for the first frost, the fragile sprouts of a freshly cut mate tree will freeze if the temperatures fall below 3°C having fatal effects. Similar to the moon's magnectic affect on the ocean which causes high tide during full moon, the force of the moon pulls the saps of the upwards, thus concentrating all of the healing properties of the mate tree in the leaf. Inaddition, the full moon lights up the forest making it possible to harvest at dawn before the sun rises without any need for external light.
It is true that every harvest that we do is unique with it’s fresh flavors and wild energies and. Meta Mate’s July 2019 Moonshine Harvest is certainly no exception.
The moon was shining brightly in the forest as Tiago and Ticiano Gehm together with a couple of helpers (including Fabricio) moved amongst the trees on the Family Gehm’s property. There had been a partial eclipse spanning a few hours the night before, the temperatures had already hit zero a week ago, we could not have had more perfect conditions for this harvest. In order to ensure that this would be a memorable mate, we selected the same piece of forest where three years ago the legendary leaves from the Dream Harvest were collected.
The only sound to be heard in the stillness of the night in the forest was that of the knives slicing the tender branches of the mate trees, the leaves illuminated by the moonlight. As Tiago, Ticiano and Tiaginho wove through the trees, climbing up with knive in hand, Fabricio dragged the cut branches towards the dirtroad so that could be later loaded onto the truck.
We lit and incense and drank a mate and gave thanks to the forest spirit and ancestors who made this harvest possible
As the first sun rays pierced through the horizon, the last branches were carried out of the forest.
Everyone gathered to drink a Mate prepared by Salete Gehm. Sir Vilsom walked through the forest to inspect the cutting done to the trees and gave pointers of what could have been done better.
It was time to separte the leaves from the branches (with knife or hand) and load them onto the truck.
An hour and a half later the truck was loaded with about 750 kg of green leaves which were driven a few meters away to the pass through the flames and undergo the sapeco.
Driving the morning’s harvest in for sapeco.Sr. Vilsom unloading the truck.
The crackling of the leaves intermingled with the rythmic rotation of the wheel as sparks as leaves exploded in this intermediatry Sapeco process of Opening the Eyes.
The first batch of leaves were then layered onto the racks of the barbaqua to dry (with heat travelling through the hole at the bottom of the barbacua (this connected to a fireplace some meters outside the wooden structure.
While the collection was an average of 3 hours, the separating the leaves from the branches another 2 hours, the sapeco one hour, the mate leaves spent about 40 hours in the Barbacua drying.
Two days after harvesting the Barbaqua was opened up and the leaves were sent to ‚canchear‘ (a coarse cutting). In former times this was done manually, however during the legalisatoin process of the barbaqua, Tiago Gehm had to create a ‚hack‘ to please the local authorities and consructed a machine where the leaves could travel directly from the barbacua to the milling facilities and be coarsely cut on the way.
Traditionally after this the Mate is put in the Soque (a mill) where over the course of 6 hours the wooden pillars pound down upon the mate leaves to create a fine powder out of this. Normally about 120kg can be milled at a time. However, in the case of this July harvest the leaves were just cut one more time and then vaccum packed for our leafy cut fans.
Although Meta Mate specialises in hand made mate coming from biodiverse forests, we do see the value of working hand and hand with the industry and value all technological innovations that add to the variety of mate production.
understand mate, this product perhaps lies on the other end of the spectrum when compared to the Moonshine Meta Mates. The latter is collected only seasonally in small quantities under the full moon from a biodiverse forest. The Cambona 4, on the other hand is collected throughout the year from plantatons consisting of a single species of mate and processed together in a factory in Machadinho (where the 23 is also milled and packed).
The town of Machadinho was founded in the 1950’s in the northern part of Rio Grande do Sul. Milk production and Soya are the two biggest industries with Mate production being the third. In the 1980’s Professor EvandroBarreto de Melowho spent a lot of time researching various cross-breeds of mate came up with the Cambona 4.
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A mate that was mild in flavor (thus making it palatable for the masses without the addition of sugar), and more importantly for the farmers the plant was resistant and grew rapidly, thus increasing productivity in the region.
While many producers applaud the discovery of the Cambona 4 as a revolution in the Mate growing world, there are critics as well who warn of the threat of biodiversity for Mate if Cambona is taken to other producing regions as it’s rapid growth allows it to spread faster than other native trees.
In the 1990’s the production of the Cambona was regulated by a local Cooperative which went bankrupt and the Cambona proejct nearly died with this until Barao de Cotegipe stepped in 2012 and took over. Today 30% of the population is employed by Barao Erva Mate Ltda and the Cambona project is flourishing under a company that has its priority in Mate.
Around 15000kg of Cambona leaves are collected and processed through the factory per day which yields about 5000kg of dry Mate. On average the collection takes place 5 days a week from early morning until midday. In the summer, more leaves are collected as the sun rises earlier. Neigboring families work together rotating the collection from each others plantation.
It is easiy to see the prosperity in the region due to the Cambona, with signs in front of every family property documenting the amount of Arrobas (15 kilos of fresh leeaves) annually and the price paid for these leaves.
Ther eare about 480 families who are registered in the Cambona Cooperative as growers and they profit from having a secure income. Barao guarentees to purchase all leaves that are collected.
Sr. Nego who has produced mate all his life (his grandfather used to make traditional Carijo Mate and then he joined the Cooperative), oversees the productions in Machadinho. He is proud to see his region prosper with the innovation of the Cambona.
In the Mate world, it is a well known fact that the best leaves come from the forest in Parana. In former times, before Argenntina produced mate, leaves from Parana were shipped down the River Iguacu to Argentina and Uruguay.
Barao always sourced its premium Mate from this region and following our visit in 2017 to the region it was possible to certify one of their producers in the area so that we could officially source our organic certified 23 Mate from the native Mate forests in Pinhao, Parana.
The Meta Difference – 23 might be our mate for the mass market, yet even in its production, Meta Mate teamed up with the best – Barao – renowned for their freshness and the leaves are sourced from some of the most pristine mate forests that exist.
Driving through the Parana mountains for hours on end, a sea of green is all that meets the eyes; A roof of Arucaria and pines is what mostly dominate the view, providing shelter to the mate that grows underneath protected by the shade of these enorumous trees. There is no way that this mate (certified or not) cannot be organic, and it is anything but plantation Mate.
Those who think that Mate is a herb (YERBA MATE) or bush certainly have not visited the native Mate forests of Parana.
While most of the native forests in Rio Grande do Sul have unfortuantely succumbed to the Soya industry, Parana is pristine in comparison. However one does notice monocultural planations of trees in the midst of the forest. Deforesatoin is disguised in regions as densification with quick growing pine trees which are then harvested for wood (along with the rest of the native trees).
Sr. Antonio Mendez who stems from the region of Pinhao (which takes its name from the pine nuts harvested from the Araucaria trees), has worked with mate all his life. He sees the value of the biodiversity in his region, and notes that the more he cares for his forests the more mate he is able to harvest from there. Today he owns 700 hectares of primeval forest where Meta Mate 23 is sourced from.
Sr. Mendez is proud of the quality of his leaves and anxious to take us through his forests to show us the mate trees that grow within a meter of each other on all sides. He explains to us, that if the forest is freed from vines and other weeds more mate trees naturally grow. The close proximity to each other makes it easy to collect many leaves in a small area.
The Mate trees are trimmed to about 2 meters in height with sufficient green being left to grow again. Once harvested, a piece of forest is not touched for 2 years.
Collection takes places througout the year, and approximately 15000 kg of mate leaves are harvested per week (on average) . Mendez contracts ‚Tareferos‘ independent mate harvesters who go around from one region of the forest to the other to harvest the leaf. Usually a group of 5-10 men camp out in an area (where rustical boarding and food is provided) and spend 5 days collecting leaves. After a weeks worth of work they often go home for a few days and then return to harvest again.
On the day that we visited, they had collected about 50 bundles (each one weighing on average 80kg)
The tareferas are paid per kg that they collect, so the are free to work as much as they want to per day. Their names are etched onto the bamboo vines that hold together the balls of mate that are brought to the clearing at the end of the day which are piced up by a tractor at the end of the day.
Once they are done with collecting, the tareferas gather around the fire to drink mate, grill meat, play cards and have a good time together.
Cultural context has to be taken into account when referring to the wages and working conditions of the tareferas. When we arrived at the camp with Sr. Mendez he was greated warmly by the tareferas who enjoy the untame life in the parana prairies.
Once they are done with collecting, the tareferas gather around the fire to drink mate, grill meat, play cards and have a good time together.
Author’s note: Revering the Gaucho culture of freedom and life in the pampa, we recognize those traces in the men who prefer this lifestyle instead of the comforts of wage and routines of a city life
Years ago during an annual production trip to Brasil we were recommended by our partners Barao de Cotegipe to visit a local bomba production facility next door. Meta Mate founder Fabricio followed Sergio Picolo’s advise and paid a visit to PurInox and was impressed with what he saw.
In April 2009, Sidney Wilk who had been working at a bomba factory for 14 years decided to buy the company together with his friend Joao Paulo and they took over the bomba production at Purinox. For the first 8 years, the two together with Joao Paulo’s brother and another friend worked out of a small production facility in Barao concentrating on building up their business by producing high quality innovative bombas.
Some years later they branched out into producing knives as well.
Together with Purinox we found partners who were committed to innovation and quality. Their company size (4 people in the beginning) gave them the flexibility to try out new methods in bomba production.
Our line of Premium Bombas produced by Purinox are unique in that they are fused together using electric pulses and heat as opposed to a standard soldering with lead or silver (which releases Cadium into the product). All soldering work is done with 340 inox so that the bomba does not need ot be washed in sulpheric acid afterwards (which is necessary when working with silver soldering.
When Meta Mate had special wishes to produce our designer range of butterfly and dragonfly bombas, Purinox was ready to give this a try with us. One might notice that these bombas are heavier than the normal bomba and it is because the tubes used in Purinox Premium Bombas are thicker than the standard inox tubes to resist the uniquely crafted bulbs (filter piece)
The Bomba Serejo, a sleek straw with slits at the bottom is a co-creation where we are trying together ot adapt this better for the European market so that leaves do not enter into the the bomba. The unique thing of this bomba is that it is only one piece.
In early 2018, Purinox slowly started to shift produciton facilities form Barao de Cotegipe to Entre Tres Rios. The municipality of Entre Tres Rios offered Purinox a lot of support in the hopes that it would generate an income for the area. A year and a half later, Purinox has grown to a small company with 11 employees (out of which 8 are from the region).
The four original founders chose to move into a house together (because they enjoy each others company and in order to economize on costs) and when they are not at work they enjoy fishing and grilling together.
There is no sense of heirarchy at Purinox, the owners and employees work together side by side producing bombas and knives. And although they have been steadily growing since they started (they do not have to worry about sales, everything they produce is sold), their focus is on quality not on quantity. The knives that Purinox produce are sold at exclusive stores in Porto Alegre and their bombas are praised by mate drinkers from Finland to the USA. Infact, intitially before some of their bombas like the Butterfly Bomba were availaible in the Brasilian market, Gauchos who visited Berlin used to buy them abroad to bring back home!
We recently visited their new factory Entre Tres Rios (an idyllic town situated near a dam constructed 50 years ago and the owners proudly showed us around.
This machine to cut and shape pieces facilitates the bomba production. In the past everything had to be cut by hand.When fusing the filter together using electricity liquid argon is also applied to the bomba bulb to prevent it form oxidizing.Protective masks and clothes are required due to the UV emissions in this process.The bulb and tube are soldered together using inox or pressed together with an electric pulse.After this the bomba is taken for polishing.
The polishing is done using natural fat and clay
and two rotating brushes (one made out of a fibre grown in the north east called Seesal to remove the scratches and one of cotton to polish the surface.
Bomba rods are thicker than the average onesA collection of bolts and tubes that an apprentice was practicing to put together. Nothing goes to waste, all damaged pieces are melted and reused.The special way that the bulbs from the Premium Bombas are soldered together
The old barbaqua from the Family Gehm has been used for the past 40 years to dry Mate, yet pieces of it date back to the early 1900`s from Salete Gehm’s grandfather’s mate production. This is a very rare construction, as most old barbaquas were burnt down as the art of hand-drying mate was made obsolete. The celebration on June 14th 2019 marked the inauguration of a museum on this premises
With the legalisation of the Barbaqua of the Family Gehm, we have entered a new era in the art of craft mate production in Brazil where a precedent has now been set to honour this heritage.
Although a picture can portray a thousand words and words can tell a beautiful story it is hard to capture the emotions of an event when you are witnessing history in the making. (Meeting of Mates, Fabricio of Meta Mate with Sergio of Barao and Salete and Vilsom Gehm, all mate makers of different degrees)
As the rain poured down creating clay from the red earth in one of the oldest mate capitals of the region, friends gathered on the property of the Family Gehm, to honor a momentous occasion for this family who have been producing mate continuously for the past 123 years.
Many were on the verge of tears as the
opening speeches were made and thanks were given for the support
received from those present physically and in spirit for the
ancestors and the trees who made it possible for this tradition of
mate making to continue
The handwork from Ticiano and Tiago Gehm were praised highly form all for their finesse in all aspects from constructing the new infrastructure to the way they cut the trees and last but not least for the mate that they made.
The new barbaqua being unveiled, the full construction was made by the Gehm brothers (based on Ricardo Lorenz’s design) constructed out of wood planted by their father Frozen Raw Mate leaves were dried in the Barbaqua on the day of the inauguration – an innovative experimentJuan ‚Toto‘ Hedman, friend and advisor form INYM who has been accompanying this process from the beginning came all the way from Argentina for the afternoon and he brought his favourite mate to share.Ticiano and Tiago’s craft work were highly praised by all who were present.Local Energy supplier Creluz was present to share a video that they had made documenting the production of the Family Gehm.And no traditional gathering would be complete without a churrasco……In the words of Ricardo….According to the legend… Yari received Caa from Tupa. Mate is not a religion but makes connections. This leaf born in the forest offers a life of abundance Thank you to the forest and to all of those who made this mate mission possible.
Meta Mate is known for showing customers that mate is more than just mate. Besides our seasonal harvests that vary with taste according to the moon, our drying techniques influence the flavours of the mate greatly, and this contrast is best demonstrated in the difference between our barbaqua and raw mates.
The Raw Mate production has its humble beginnings in an up cycled clothes drying machine, where Jozeane, a food engineer tried to find the best way to dry mate at low temperatures to preserve the mineral content.
Utmost care is given to the hygiene in this production as nothing is heated above 40°C. Meta Mate Raw is the first Mate ever to receive a Demeter certification (biodynamic processing)
Marlon, Jozeane’s husband helping to pack frozen Mate leaves for a new experiment that we are trying. With its freeze drying, Meta Mate Raw has a unique production method.
Besides our freeze dry Mate, Jozeane produces other Mate variations based on the Mate leaf.
Mate MarmaladeRaw Mate Extract
Our Raw Mate production is undergoing some structural changes at the moment. Past productions have been documented, however as a lot of investments have gone into this mate production we are unable to share all of the processing steps as not everyone gives value to the costs of this mate.
Contact us for more information about the processing of Raw Mate
Although it can also be prepared in a french press or an espresso machine, the similarities between Meta Mate 42 and coffee go beyond the fact that they share the same color.
The Roasting factory
In order to see how this mate is prepared we travelled to Machadinho, a town known for it’s thermal springs on the border of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, where Barao has a second production facility dedicated towards milling leafy mates like 23, aging others for export and for roasting mates like Meta Mate 42.
Tonnes of Mate is stored at the warehouse for aging for export
The Mate is separated according to the various grades and stored for aging.
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23 + 19 = 42. This is more than just a
mathematical equation. It takes about 19 minutes to convert Meta
Mate 23 into Meta Mate 42
Mate’s answer to coffee is roasted for
19 minutes in an ancient coffee roaster at very high temperatures to
convert it’s fresh grassy flavors to malty nutty notes.
In comparison to the grand production
of their green mates, the mate roasting process has an artisanal
nuance to it. Barao produces about 50,000kg roasted mate a year
(less than 1% of their annual production).
Unlike the numerous conveyer belts that
require teams to man the different machines for various steps of the
drying process, the roasted mate can be produced by one person
A 50kg sack is emptied into the
roasting machine where it then rotates in a drum heated by a fire for
about 19 minutes.
The roasting process is controlled
every 5 minutes to ensure that the temperatures are stable by
inspecting the color of the leaves
Once the mate is roasted, the cylinder
is opened and water is sprayed on the leaves to cool it down
(otherwise due to the heat the leaves might set on fire).
After the leaves cool down they are packed in sacks and stored away until needed.
Meta Mate 23 the first organic certified leafy vacuum packed mate to be brought out on the market was a joint venture between Barao Erva Mate and Meta Mate.
It’s 5pm on a chilly July evening in Barao de Cotegipe. Although the sun is setting, and the company is getting ready to close for the day, the machines in the upper part of the factory are still in full motion. Winter is the main season for harvesting Mate, and during the period, the machines run non-stop from Monday morning to Friday evening, with the production line working in shifts.
A truck with 6000kg of Mate leaves arrives in the factory in the evening from the organic certified forests in Parana.
Half of these leaves will be used for the 2019 production of Meta Mate 23.
As it processes thousands of kilos of Mate per day, records are kept for every batch of mate that arrives.
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The Mate leaves which were cut earlier in the day are still moist from the morning dew
The Mate is placed on a conveyer belt to rapidly be exposed to flames to stop the oxidation process (sapeco)
The Mate leaves begin to enter the drying machine at 10pm that night and will spend the night going through a 5 layer air drying process that lasts about 5-6 hours.
There are only 2 mate companies in the country that have such an extensive air drying machine with 5 layers. The supervisor on duty occasionally inspects the status of the mate at various steps of the drying process to make sure that everything is running smoothly.
At dawn the next day, the factory is very quiet when we came to see the 23 coming out of the drying machine. However, we were not the only ones there so early in the morning. Sergio is always at the company at 6.30am.
These days the dried mate is transported to a secondary factory for milling and packing. Sr. Nego oversees the end production of Meta Mate 23 and 42
Not only does this production serve for our organic certified Meta Mate 23, but it is also the mate that is used in the production of the Yuyo Mate Range.
For those of you who are curious about the history of Meta Mate 23, please refer to these older articles about this product.
A centenary native Mate Tree on the property of the Family Gehm near Seberei. Skills are required to climb up 30 meters to harvest the leaves.
Today the Family Gehm’s property is a small oasis in a green desert of Soya Fields. All of their neighbors have sold their property and moved to the town.
Salete and Vilsom Gehm are on the verge of witnessing a new era in the mate making history of their family that spans four generations. Almost 40 years ago the couple bought a piece of land in Seberei, close to where they grew up and began to plant and work with mate amidst the green deserts of Soya fields that had taken over the region. Over the decades their neighbors moved away, yet the family remained, and today their sons Tiago and Ticiano decided to swim against the mainstream of younger generations who move from the country side to the city, and stay with their families to work with the land.
40 years of drinking good mates together – The Cuia is always circulating in the house of the Family Gehm. In the mornings and evenings the whole family gathers around the kitchen stove (in the winter) and porch (in the summer) to pass the cuia around and spend quality time together. The mate (like almost everything else this family consumes) is self-made.
20 years ago, Sr. Vilsom had the foresight to start planting mate on this property. Today on their 13,5 hectare lands there is a rich variety of Mate trees growing in the shade of a planted forest. The trees are generally placed 2-3 meters apart which makes it easy to walk into the forest and harvest by hand.
The Mate trees on the Family Gehm’s property varies in size and taste. Sr. Vilsom knows which leave are ideal to havest in different situation, and this knowledge has been passed down to his sons. Small shiny leaves, e.g. have a stronger flavor whilst little white spots on the leaves indicate that the plant is perhaps under stress and the flavor of the mate can vary greatly depending on which leaves are harvested.
Upcoming Mate Circles : 8 June Karneval de Kultur ZukunftsRaum. 15 June Quellen des Lebens. Oderberg. Berlin Shop will be closed on these days . Ausblenden
There are rational explanations to ancient superstitions. Although the mate is an evergreen (meaning that the leaves do not fall in winter) the tree like most life goes into a state of hibernation in winter. If one does not wait for the first frost, the fragile sprouts of a freshly cut mate tree will freeze if the temperatures fall below 3°C having fatal effects. Similar to the moon's magnectic affect on the ocean which causes high tide during full moon, the force of the moon pulls the saps of the upwards, thus concentrating all of the healing properties of the mate tree in the leaf. Inaddition, the full moon lights up the forest making it possible to harvest at dawn before the sun rises without any need for external light.
