Maté or Ilex paraguariensis is a medium sized evergreen tree of the holly family. Maté is indigenous to Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina and very popular throughout South America. Maté's taste depends on the method of leaf preparation but usually has a unique refreshing bitter herbal taste with our's at the shop having a slight honey-like sweetness. In addition to its standing as a popular tasty beverage, in herbal medicine, yerba maté is used as diuretic, a stimulant to reduce fatigue, to improve appetite, to aid gastric function, to fight obesity, depression, headaches, constipation, hay fever, stress, and to stimulate the immune system. Claims with clinical study clout include finds that yerba maté could be beneficial as a weight-loss aid, it might be useful for a variety of such disorders as “depression, disorders of attention and focus, mood and emotional disorders, Parkinson’s disease, extrapyramidal disorders, hypertension, substance abuse, eating disorders, withdrawal syndromes and the cessation of smoking.” , that is has significant antioxidant activity, it may be helpful in preventing atherosclerosis, and may aid in protecting against the development of diabetic complications. As part of a marketing campaign, maté has been said to contain no caffeine but instead a new substance "mateine". Maté does indeed contain caffeine and produces a beverage with an average caffeine content between that of tea and coffee. Maté is definitely worth a try.