I've never found the right tea leaves. Most of them were to bitter and some had just a totally different profile than the original clubmate. How close are the ones you are using?

For me using the cold brew method instead of cooking the leaves had the biggest effect on the bitterness.

The taste goes in the direction of ClubMate, but has a stronger tea taste than the original ClubMate. I think reasons for that are the reduced amount of sugar and the fact that ClubMate uses natural flavor in their tea extract.

Buying different brands will change the taste even more.

Isn't this a tannins issue? I've not done mate before but with black tea my understanding is brewed tea cooled down is bitter while tea just left in cold water in the fridge is smooth because brewing it releases tannins.

Water-soluble taste compounds all dissolve with similar time profiles (all other things being equal), which are exponential curves that asymptote at zero and saturation. The time constant and the saturation level are the true variables, and saturation is "chosen" by the molecule itself, but when you superimpose exponential curves, a slower-dissolving "bad" taste can be minimized by finding the right balance point between "enough" of the good solutes before the unwanted solute rises much.

"All things being equal" = that time constant is itself a function of temperature, so lower temperatures slow down (spread out) the process, allowing a broader "balance point" at which to stop the process.

IOW, if you're brewing a hot cup of tea, leaving the bag in an extra few minutes can really increase the bitterness without making it much "darker", but even a few extra hours in the fridge-brewed tea is no big deal.

Maybe try contacting Meta Mate [1] for recommendations. AFAIK they are supplying mate leaves to multiple mate soft drink manufacturers.

[1] https://www.metamateberlin.de/

Love that you made homemade Club Mate! My favorite soda by far. I didn’t realize it was just tea before now. They have made a sugar free version now as well, but that not as cool as making your own

The sugar free Club Mate is probably the only soda where I'm not satisfied with it instead of the sugar version. Somethings just missing in the mix of it, doesn't have the bite that makes the sugar version satisfying.

> They have made a sugar free version now as well, but that not as cool as making your own

That version (Club Mate Zero) is hard to get in supermarkets as well, at least where I’m living in Germany. I usually order it online.

Late capitalism is when a traditional tea recipe is referred to as "homemade ClubMate (R)".

That's my approach to recreate a soft drink (ClubMate), like OP is trying to recreate Coke (etc.). Would love to also learn something about the traditional recipe

sure, but what makes it ClubMate instead of just Mate Tea? Either way, thanks for the recipe. I might try that.

I would say drinking it cold, carbonated, with caramelized sugar and lemon juice, out of a bottle instead of brewed as a tea from a calabaza.

Club Mate has a different taste than traditionally brewed yerba mate. It’s carbonated as well.

You can buy mate tea as tea sachets, "Mate leão" has a nice taste blend.

Why not do it with the leaves? This is harder as their taste profile is very uneven.

For the sour taste, add citric acid.

I'm pretty sure that if you toy around with the amount of citric acid, sugar & dillution you'll get a similar taste, or something even more palatable for you.

Thanks for the tips! Will try!

> mate tea as tea sachets

Look for “mate cocido”. La Tranquera is the brand I use.

65 grams of sugar for 500ml is "less sugar"?How, if a 500ml bottle of club mate only has 25 grams? Did you mean 6.5 grams perhaps?

Edit: My bad, I didn't realise that was for 5 bottles. Carry on.

Still not great if consumed regularly, sugar is one of the worst thing we pump our bodies. Its basically a slow acting poison that kills our organs. Complex carbs are better, but stuff in drinks is same as eating spoonfulls of it directly

To be honest, I don't have that much fun in playing around with the recipe, but I found this one and it just works for me: https://github.com/xil-se/FreeMate

But nowadays I just drink plain yerba mate with a splash of lemon juice, no added sugar. I do the FreeMate in summer a bit.

Edit: Btw, if anyone of you bought yerba mate before and thought it didn't taste great, for me personally there are huge differences between them. I like the milder ones a lot more that don't have much powder. If you have been disappointed before maybe try again with a different brand and don't forget the splash of lemon juice, that makes a crazy big difference

Tereré is also a milder alternative: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terer%C3%A9

I love terere - note you will get less caffeine and antioxidants from cold brewing.

You can also buy mate with mint mixed in. I accidentally bought a kilo of it a while ago and I've been working through it slowly.

I just made some this morning, and it came out delicious even with only 6 hours of cold brewing in the fridge! Thanks for the idea!

Just tried your recipe myself and it really tasty! I also prefer a less sweet version. I'm looking forward to playing around with it and customizing it :D