To brew it in a teapot, you will need roasted Mate, otherwise you will
have to use a gourd.

About it becoming sour, well, like tea, Yerba Mate comes in many
varieties, and not all are like that. As a general rule, if its color
is more yellow than green, it will become sour, and you will have to
use a smaller gourd. I prefer mate that is really green and has lots of
twigs.

Here are some links I found about brewing. They are not in english, but
the images are still useful.

http://www.clubedoterere.com.br/como_preparar/ - Using cold water to
prepare Tereré
http://www.chimarrao.com.br/PrepareChimarrao.html - Chimarrão, made
with powdered, instead of chopped, mate
http://www.paginadogaucho.com.br/chim/aprendendo.htm - This page has a
downloadable video

--k

toci wrote:
> Thanks for the suggestion. I've gotten my Yerba Mate' and my heirloom
> tea flowers out from the dark corner where I put my not-my-cup-of-tea
> tisanes and mixed them for iced tea. The result is a yellow green,
> sour/bitter brew that's potable. I'll do further experimentation,
> though. Toci
> Konrad Scorciapino wrote:
> > The best iced tea I tried was made with Menghai's Pu-erh and lemon.
> > Black tea is fine too, but the others (Green, white and Oolong) just
> > don't taste as good they would hot.
> >
> > Personally, I think tisanes are much better iced. Hibiscus can be
> > pretty good if mixed with other herbs, but my favorite is Yerba Mate.
> > Roasted mate can produce a very aromatic drink, and iced, with sugar
> > and lemon, is pretty popular around here.
> >
> > Not to mention Tereré, a cold variation of the traditionally prepared
> > mate, with cold water and lemon, which remains unmached, at least in
> > refreshment.
> >
> > --k
> >
> > Dominic T. wrote:
> > > Lars wrote:
> > > > On Tue, 16 May 2006 20:05:55 -0700, Debbie the Dogged
> > > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > >what are people's favorite varieties to drink iced,
> > > >
> > > > I use a "Japanese Lime Tea". That is a green tea flavoured with lime.
> > > > I don't think I ever tried it hot but is yummie cold.
> > > >
> > > > Lars
> > > > Stockholm
> > >
> > > Where'd you find Japanese Lime Tea?!? I would love to try that, hot or
> > > iced.
> > >
> > > My favorites are Yellow box Jasmine Green tea with Chinese rock sugar,
> > > Sencha, Lusianne, and these big (like 10x normal size) McDonalds
> > > teabags I got from a friend who works at a distribution center. I
> > > experiment with all kinds of teas though. Lichee black is good,
> > > strawberry sencha, ginger peach black tea, etc.
> > >
> > > The only one I can't handle is Oolong iced tea.
> > >
> > > - Dominic