Exploring South American leaf infusions
Three hollies, all of them caffeinated, in descending order of bitterness. The last is native to North America and spent two centuries being ignored because of its name.
Who this is for
Someone who has tried yerba mate, found it harsh, and assumed the whole family was like that.
What you should come away with
A sense of which of the three you would actually drink, and the knowledge that a herbal infusion is not automatically caffeine-free.
Three drinking hollies
Mate first, because it is the one people have met and the one that puts them off. Each step is a gentler member of the same genus.
Starting point. Everything after this is measured against it.
Vegetal and genuinely bitter, with a smoky edge from the fire-drying. The bitterness is not a fault and is not brewed away; it is what the drink is.
Why this step follows
The gentler Ilex. Same genus, same caffeine, and far less of the bitterness that stops people going back to mate.
Round and slightly sweet with a light hay character and none of the harsh green bite of yerba mate. Roasted material picks up a cocoa note.
Why this step follows
The third drinking holly and the mildest, dominated by how far it was roasted rather than by the leaf.
Mild, faintly toasty and much less bitter than yerba mate, with no real astringency. The roast level determines almost everything about the cup.
Read alongside
- Understanding caffeine-free drinks
Most herbal infusions contain no caffeine. 'Most' is doing real work in that sentence, and the exceptions are not obscure plants.
- One plant, many names
Hibiscus is karkade, sorrel, agua de Jamaica and zobo. Barley tea is mugicha and boricha. Understanding when two names mean one plant saves buying the same thing twice.