How we make money (the honest version).

What those /go links are

When you click a "check price" or product link on Yerba Mate Reviews, it routes through a /goredirect on our own domain. Some of those links are affiliate links: if you buy after clicking, the retailer pays us a commission. The price you pay is identical either way — the commission comes out of the retailer's margin, not your pocket. That commission funds the bags we buy, the hands-on tasting, and the writing.

Verdicts come first. Money comes after.

Rankings are set on the merits — stems, smoke, and strength, plus the cut, the origin, and how the round actually drinks — beforeanyone checks whether a product has an affiliate program. The order doesn't change afterward. If the best product on a list earns us nothing, it stays at the top of the list.

• A brand cannot buy a ranking, a "Best Overall" badge, or a softer review. Not for any amount.
• We don't accept sponsored verdicts or paid placements, and we don't run "advertorial" reviews.
• Free samples don't buy anything either — a product we paid for and a product we were sent are scored the same way.
• If our verdict and our wallet ever disagree, the verdict wins. That's the whole business model: being worth trusting twice.

The methodology behind every verdict is published in full at how we taste.

The Mate Finder, too

Our matching tool recommends from the same editorial catalog as our reviews — blends that cleared the same stems-smoke-and-strength bar. Its results may include affiliate links, and the same rule applies: your answers pick the products, not the payout.

The serious notes

• Not medical advice. We report what we taste and what the record says — we don't make health claims, and nothing here diagnoses, treats, cures, or prevents anything.
• It's a caffeinated beverage. Yerba mate contains caffeine, so moderate your intake and be mindful if you're pregnant or caffeine-sensitive.
• Let it cool. The one genuine caution is temperature — the IARC links drinking very hot beverages (above 65 °C / 149 °F) to higher esophageal-cancer risk, so let your mate cool below scalding before you drink.

Questions?

A person reads every email: hello@yerbamatereviews.com.