See the original post here: Hacking Club Mate "imatate"
Brewing was easy. Many people joined, and they did enjoy my special surprise: "Mate jelly shots". So after having a debate over how much gram is a cup for sugar, I just went by visual judgment. Out came two batches, I made a bigger one for Imatate and a small one for Maca Mate. Cooling was definitely an issue, it took ages to heat the huge pot and it took ages to cool it down. So we decided to put everything in the refridgerator and wait for the night to pass.
Next day me and a fellow coworker spent almost an hour carbonating and filling the stuff into bottles. Maca Mate was kind of annoying to handle, because there are lots of unclear stuff that had to be filtered out. But we got our reward: Two kinds of our very own mate!
The overall taste is good, it has a stronger mate-flavor than club mate. Imatate also looks unclear in comparison to Club Mate. This might by an effect from the darker molasses. The taste is also heavily influenced by the molasses, it gives a stronger "earthy" flavor. And in my opinion, visual judgment is a bitch. I think it is a bit too sweet. So next time I will use less molasses and less sugar.
YUCKKK! Horrible, this stuff may have a good effect on you, but no way I could drink this up.
For motivating me and helping me out. It was a fun thing to do, and I'll definitely try again sometimes.