Hey all, I recently got some samples from a local yerba maté company called Maté Factor (http://www.matefactor.com/) and they included a couple packs of finely ground maté for use in an espresso machine. I've pulled a couple shots on my GB/5, and they do ok - generally around 4 oz. with a 30 second pull. They taste nice too, whether diluted with water or made into a latte.

My question is this: is there any possibly way this could harm my machine? Seems like, logically, it wouldn't hurt the machine but you just never know. I'd like some better informed people to chime in before i start offering it. thanks in advance!

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Well, make sure you have dedicated "tea" groups and portafilters are time to thoroughly clean them in between making drinks. The flavors really come through if not *thoroughly* cleaned, in my experience and opinion. I worked at a shop where we did "russian teas" (tea into a pf and pulled on the machine) and we had to dedicate one of our three groups solely for that.

-bry
we have a 3 group and rarely use the rightmost group head, so that might work. lord knows i have enough portafilters lying around too haha
are time? really bryan... jeez... or* time... *or*

-bry
I love Mate, I just can't bring myself to use anything but coffee in my espresso machine.
Gotta throw this one out there too... isn't mate's brew temp like 120F at the max? In my experience the mates that I've worked with tasted god-awful sour if they went above like 120-130. I could definitely be way wrong... after all this is tea we're talking about and I'm certainly no expert in this area... not even a novice, haha.

-bry
green maté tastes like wheatgrass if you brew it straight like an espresso shot. it's not terrible but better watered down like an americano or with milk like a latte.
@kayakman - I actually just saw a listing on Wikipedia yesterday that says the antioxidant activity in a shot of espresso is higher than in other brewing methods. I would guess its due to the length of time the grounds are exposed to heat but I don't really know. I was looking at the torrefacto roasting process - which I'd never heard of before. It says that this process of coating the beans with sugar during roasting leads to a higher antioxidant yield as well.
We keep a dedicated group head and portafilter for Rooibus here and it tastes best with vanilla and honey in my opinion. I like it as an iced latte.
@kayakman what a dilemma :) I did a quick search on the Mayo clinic's site and they do mention that caffeine levels are greatly affected (a spread of 40-120 gm) by roasting and brewing variations in their research studies, but it didn't mention which way!
- On another note, they say that mate has been linked to cancers of the mouth, esophagus and lungs, especially if you are a smoker, and caution avoidance.
Hopefully some of the coffee geniuses around here have done some research on brewing and caffeine and can help us out.

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