Sunday, October 15, 2006
Did the Evil Freezer Kill my Yerba?
In a perfect world our freezers would be the driest places: cold and dry. We all know that is not what happens; they are cooling/thawing creators of grotesque rime ice and stalactites. [Stalactites made of ice have another name and I'd appreciate an ice cave explorer or scientist to give me the appropriate word.] Our refrigerators look dry but are more like coastal Alaska. Coastal Alaska is not the recommended place to store your yerba. Scratch off your list other beautiful places like the fjords of Norway, the Straits of Magellan, etc.
In fact you might better try the Peruvian Altiplano... but that could be inconvenient. Nevertheless dry is imperitive and cool is nice; but dry above all. A glass jar in the pantry is just fine. We opt for the bag on the shelf... but then we are not going to let it sit there for long.
What web site told you this was the way to store your yerba? Holy mackeral. Was it a tea site? A coffee site?
Just about everyone keeps their coffee beans in the freezer--so what's with that?
The difference is that coffee is full of aromatic grease and fat which hold its wonderful, heady aroma--and you need to keep these fats from getting rancid (though trust me they will not do it as fast as... say... the neighbor's zucchini bread loaves they keep bringing over. They are made with "Splenda" and we are thinking of building a house with them.) Yerba mate, in comparison, has very little fatty substance and doesn't require this kind of treatment.
If you have subjected your tea to these kinds of refrigerator tortures for only a short while the tea is probably fine; wipe the rime ice off, let it dry, have a couple of mates, and then lazily put it up on the shelf. Breathe easy, relax, unwind, learn some Spanish off of the label, ponder the fact that your mate never tastes the same twice, get wired, have a good talk; write if you have any further questions.
The Great Yerbini
In fact you might better try the Peruvian Altiplano... but that could be inconvenient. Nevertheless dry is imperitive and cool is nice; but dry above all. A glass jar in the pantry is just fine. We opt for the bag on the shelf... but then we are not going to let it sit there for long.
What web site told you this was the way to store your yerba? Holy mackeral. Was it a tea site? A coffee site?
Just about everyone keeps their coffee beans in the freezer--so what's with that?
The difference is that coffee is full of aromatic grease and fat which hold its wonderful, heady aroma--and you need to keep these fats from getting rancid (though trust me they will not do it as fast as... say... the neighbor's zucchini bread loaves they keep bringing over. They are made with "Splenda" and we are thinking of building a house with them.) Yerba mate, in comparison, has very little fatty substance and doesn't require this kind of treatment.
If you have subjected your tea to these kinds of refrigerator tortures for only a short while the tea is probably fine; wipe the rime ice off, let it dry, have a couple of mates, and then lazily put it up on the shelf. Breathe easy, relax, unwind, learn some Spanish off of the label, ponder the fact that your mate never tastes the same twice, get wired, have a good talk; write if you have any further questions.
The Great Yerbini
Labels: dry, freezer, mate, refrigerator, storage, store, yerba
