I first saw Yerba mate at a local coffee shop. They had hookahs there, and after smoking a couple of bowls of shisha with my friends (molasses and tobacco), I decided to try the stuff they had plastered all over the place, Guayaki Yerba mate. The first time I just had one cup and I couldn’t tell if I felt a little lightheaded from the magnitude of tobacco smoke inhaled or if the tea did something, so I decided to try it again on a different occasion.
It kind of makes me feel not quite high, but in touch with myself more. It produces similar effects as marijuana when listening to music, at least in my case. It lasted about 30 minutes to an hour and just makes me feel chill and collected. It is to be noted, though, that I am being treated heavily for depression and take daily maximum doses of Adderall, Wellbutrin, and Prozac, which may have combined with the tea in a weird way, like it does with alcohol (it takes about half as much alcohol to feel twice as fucked up when I’m on my medicine, and it can lead to extreme fear, paranoia, false illusions of impending death/doom, and desperate confusion if excessive alcohol use is carried out by me).
