Barbacuá yerba mate, what is it?

Barbacuá yerba mate

Among the many varieties of yerba we can find, yerba mate barbacuá is one that offers a very particular flavor, showing a strong a difference in its productive process.

Barbacuá is a name in the Guaraní language that refers to an ancestral process of drying the yerba, precisely developed by this original culture over 400 years ago, which produces a delicate smoky that gives the yerba and the mates that we bake with it an unmistakable flavor and aroma.

This process is carried out without haste, slowly and delicately dehydrating the leaves exposed to the heat of the wood fire for 10 or 12 hours, which makes the product acquire an unmistakable aroma and flavor of smoked, enhanced by the use of wood as the anchico, the alecrín, the María Preta and the cinnamon deer, among others. It should be noted that these species are implanted in their ecosystem and there they regenerate naturally.

The process is carried out in "dryers", special brick ovens that manage to concentrate the heat and smoke of the wood to allow the leaf to dry slowly, instead of letting it dry naturally as is usually done in the most common process. It demands a whole day with the burning oven to dry the grass with this unique system.

This process, as we said, has been in existence for several centuries. It is usually carried out in yerba mate plants in the center and south of Misiones because of its closeness to the plantations. However, since it is a more complex and artisanal system, due to productivity issues, the dryers will remain in many cases inactive for a long time.

But now that the yerba is being revalued as a high-quality product, and that more mates want new flavors and a premium type of yerba taken care of at each stage of the production process, this type of yerba has the opportunity to resurface, and with it new job opportunities for many small producers, because historically these dryers were small establishments dedicated to the task.

The dried yerba by smoke then enters a 24-month aging process, because it is after 18 months that it acquires its peculiar characteristics. This long maturation gives this herb some virtues, such as not producing acidity, having a milder flavor, preserving a delicate aroma and providing better performance.

Some brands already offer their variety barbacuá and it is not difficult to get it, so we recommend making the test of this yerba so careful since leaving the plant.