We still drink coffee. A cappuccino on a slow Sunday morning, a strong espresso before a long meeting. Coffee is one of life's great pleasures and we are not here to take it away from you.
But somewhere between our third coffee of the day and the familiar mid-afternoon slump, we started asking whether there was another way. Not a replacement. Just something different for different moments.
We found it in Buenos Aires.
What happened when we switched
On our honeymoon in Argentina we kept our morning coffee. That first flat white of the day is a ritual we were not giving up for anyone.
But we started experimenting. An afternoon maté instead of a third coffee. Then a mid-morning one too, when the first coffee had done its job and the day was properly underway. Without really planning it or making any grand declaration, the pattern shifted. Coffee to start the day, maté to carry it forward.
What we did not expect was how different the energy felt in quality rather than just quantity.
With coffee, the fuel runs out. You know the feeling. Somewhere around hour three the sharp focus dissolves, the crash arrives, and you are either back at the coffee machine or dragging through the rest of the afternoon on fumes.
With maté it was different. The energy came in slower and stayed longer. We explored Buenos Aires for hours without that familiar sense of running on empty. Not wired, not buzzing. Just steadily, calmly fuelled. Relaxed energy for a long day of wandering rather than a sharp spike for a sprint.
That difference, we later discovered, has a scientific explanation.
Why the energy feels different
Both coffee and yerba maté contain caffeine. A can of Matelo contains around 96mg, similar to a strong cup of coffee which typically contains 95 to 100mg. So the amount of caffeine is roughly the same. The difference is what comes with it.
Yerba maté naturally contains theobromine, a compound also found in cacao and dark chocolate. Theobromine works alongside caffeine rather than amplifying it. It relaxes smooth muscle, moderates the adrenal response that caffeine triggers, and produces what maté drinkers consistently describe as calm alertness rather than a sharp spike.
Coffee delivers caffeine alone. Yerba maté delivers caffeine and theobromine together. That combination is why the energy curve is different. Steadier on the way up, gentler on the way down, no cliff edge at the end.
Yerba maté vs coffee: the side by side
Both are naturally caffeinated drinks with centuries of history behind them. Both improve focus, alertness and mood. Both are best enjoyed as part of a considered daily routine rather than used as a crutch.
Where they differ is in the experience rather than the headline numbers.
Coffee is fast and sharp. It is the drink for a standing start. A morning espresso or a strong flat white to accelerate a slow start. The caffeine hits quickly and hard, which is exactly what you want in those moments.
Yerba maté is slow and sustained. It is the drink for the long game. A creative session that needs to last four hours, an afternoon of focused work, an evening side project after a full day. The energy arrives gradually and stays consistently, without the peaks and valleys that coffee can bring.
Neither is better. They are different tools for different moments.
The antioxidant difference
One area where yerba maté genuinely pulls ahead is antioxidant content. Yerba maté contains more polyphenols than green tea and a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals including vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, C and E alongside zinc, potassium and manganese. Coffee contains antioxidants too, but the profile is narrower.
This is not a reason to abandon coffee. It is simply worth knowing that your maté habit is doing more nutritional work than the caffeine content alone suggests.
What about the jitters?
If you have ever felt anxious, shaky or unable to sit still after too much coffee, you are familiar with the jitter effect. It is one of the most common reasons people look for a coffee alternative.
Yerba maté does not eliminate caffeine sensitivity. If you are very sensitive to caffeine you will still feel it. But most people who switch from coffee report fewer jitters with maté. The theobromine moderates the physical caffeine response, smoothing out the edges that cause anxiety and restlessness in some coffee drinkers.
Start with one can and see how you feel. That is the honest advice.
How we think about it now
We did not give up coffee when we came home from Buenos Aires. We just stopped using it as our only option.
Coffee in the morning when we want a fast, sharp start. Matelo in the afternoon when we need sustained focus without the risk of a crash derailing the rest of the day. Two drinks, two different jobs, no conflict.
If you are a coffee drinker curious about yerba maté, that is the frame we would suggest. Not a replacement. An addition to your toolkit for different kinds of days.
So Is Yerba Maté Better Than Coffee?
Maté and coffee are not rivals. They can both belong in your day and for many people they already do. The question is not which one wins but what you are after at any given moment.
Consider what the morning coffee actually does for you. Beyond the caffeine there is the ritual of it. The warmth, the smell, the cosy familiar experience of something you have been drinking the same way for years. That is not nothing. That is a deeply learnt comfort and it deserves respect. Maté is not here to take that away. It is here for the moment when the ritual has run its course and the afternoon still has hours left in it.
For the morning, for the standing start, for the sharp familiar hit that begins the day, coffee. For the afternoon, for sustained focus without the anxiety, for the third caffeinated drink of the day when another coffee would push you over the edge, maté. Not categorically better. Better for the right occasion.
We wrote a short piece that answers this question directly for anyone who wants the verdict without the full comparison. You can read it here.
Matelo is our attempt to make that as easy as possible. A sparkling, ready to drink yerba maté brewed from whole leaves, made in the UK, with nothing artificial and no ingredient you cannot pronounce.
If you are curious about what yerba maté actually is, how it is made and where it comes from, our Learn page has everything you need.