We built Matelo on maté.
Not metaphorically. Every late evening spent researching co-packers, every weekend morning writing copy, every session mapping out keywords and caffeine curves and unit economics. All of it powered by a can of Matelo on the desk beside us.
We are a two-person startup working on this in the hours after our day jobs end. The 5-9 after the 9-5, as we like to call it. And the drink that makes those hours possible is the same one we are trying to bring to you.
That is not a marketing line. It is just what happened.
What is a flow state?
The term was coined by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the 1970s after decades of research into what makes people happy, creative and fully engaged. He called it flow. The mental state where you are so absorbed in what you are doing that time disappears, effort feels effortless, and your best work tends to emerge naturally.
Athletes call it being in the zone. Musicians call it being in the pocket. Writers call it when the words just come.
Most people have experienced it at least once. The challenge is that flow does not arrive on demand. It requires a specific set of conditions. The right level of challenge, the absence of distraction, a nervous system that is alert but not anxious. Too little stimulation and you drift. Too much and you freeze.
This is where what you drink matters more than most people realise.
Why most energy drinks work against flow state
The cruel irony of most caffeinated drinks is that they are designed to stimulate, not to focus. A strong coffee or an energy drink delivers a sharp caffeine spike that raises cortisol, triggers the fight or flight response, and produces the kind of alert anxiety that is the enemy of deep creative work.
You cannot enter flow state when you are wired. Anxiety and distraction are flow killers. The very thing most people reach for when they need to focus is often the thing that makes focus harder.
This is why so many people find their best creative work happens not on the third coffee of the day but in a calm, clear headed state that feels sustainable rather than urgent.
What makes yerba maté different
Yerba maté contains caffeine. Around 96mg per can of Matelo, similar to a strong cup of coffee. But it also contains theobromine, a natural compound found in cacao and dark chocolate that works alongside caffeine rather than amplifying it.
Theobromine moderates the adrenal response that caffeine triggers. It relaxes smooth muscle, softens the cortisol spike, and produces what maté drinkers consistently describe as calm alertness. Focused and energised without the edge. Present without being wired.
That combination of caffeine for alertness and theobromine for calm creates something closer to the neurological conditions that flow state requires than almost any other caffeinated drink. Not a guarantee. But a better starting point.
Csikszentmihalyi described flow as requiring a balance between challenge and skill, with the nervous system operating in a state of relaxed readiness. Yerba maté does not manufacture flow. But it removes some of the physiological barriers that get in the way of it.
How we found our flow
When we started building Matelo we quickly discovered that not all working hours are equal. The ones that moved the needle, the sessions where ideas connected, where problems got solved, where the writing came out right, almost always happened when we were calm and focused rather than caffeinated and racing.
Maté became our signal to shift modes. A can on the desk meant the session was starting. The slow, sustained energy meant we could stay in it for two, three, four hours without the crash that sends you to the sofa. The lack of jitters meant the anxiety of building something from nothing did not compound on top of the caffeine.
We are not claiming maté gives you flow state. We are saying it helped us find ours. And that is really all any drink can do. Remove the barriers and let the work happen.
The flow state drink question
People search for "flow state drink" the way they search for productivity hacks and morning routines, hoping there is a shortcut. There is not. Flow requires practice, the right environment, meaningful work and a nervous system that is not fighting itself.
But if you are going to reach for something caffeinated during a creative session, the drink you choose matters. Something that spikes and crashes will work against you. Something that sustains and calms will work with you.
That is what we built Matelo to be. Not a magic solution. Just the best possible companion for the hours when you are trying to make something.
The 5-9 after the 9-5
We launched Matelo in the hours most people spend unwinding. We are still building it there. Every session that moved this brand forward happened after the day job ended, with a can of Matelo and enough focused hours to make something worth making.
If you have a project, a side hustle, a creative practice or something you have always wanted to build, those hours exist for you too. The question is what you do with them.
We think maté helps. We built a brand on that belief.
If you want to understand more about what yerba maté actually is and how it works, our Learn page has everything you need. And if you are ready to try it, you know where to find us.
Mattér of Flow is Matelo's series on flow state, creative energy and the people who have found their rhythm. Brewed from whole yerba maté leaves. Made in the UK.