u/iwasjusttwittering

Tea (Camelia sinensis) accumulates heavy metals from soil. This is a known risk when buying cheap tea. Steeping tea leaves also removes heavy metals from water. These facts regularly get brought up esp. in discussions about eating tea leaves, which is a tradition in some East Asian cuisines and a habit that other people have picked up.

This begs the question how safe it is in compost.

I've found publications that consider tea waste's potential phytotoxicity, but not heavy-metal contamination.

I have only limited experience with Brazilian mate. Randomly got a Paraná sampler (from chimarrão to tostado) and liked it a lot, then a couple bags from Barão de Cotegipe after seeing praise on this sub.

Barão Tereré Menta & Boldo smelled and tasted as if it had artificial menthol additive, reminding me of hospital sterilization. I ended up drinking it hot when I had a cold mid-winter.

Barão Chimarrão Orgânica is just bland; I expected it to be vegetal like the Paraná, but no. I add other herbs such as spearmint, and resort to "thermos brewing" (popular with aged white tea or puer) to make it more robust.

disclaimer: I have read the sticky, lurked around, and I've been μdosing on and off for a few years (as a mild stimulant or to mitigate anxiety).

I was mainly interested in magic mushrooms, because a trip could help reframe things (I've been dealing with existential crises for a long time). I failed to find or grow any though.

I did eventually find a spot with AM nearby. Not psychedelic, but (aside from aforementioned μdosing) I thought it could help assist meditation; I've been practicing mindfulness, as a "forever newbie", for more than a decade, and I have an interest in deep ecology (Næss). It hasn't (?) ... When I tried larger doses (6-15 g more or less decarbed), it merely made me feel drunk. No noteworthy effect on sleep either, I don't think. Dunno if I could have done anything better.

Hence my question.

Or to put it bluntly, when I'm browsing trip reports, I see people say it fucks with their mind, but to what end?

I feel like I must be missing something. How does one use a classic wired headset with a PC? A good 3.5mm jack microphone input seems rare.

So I want to be able to use a good headset, something like Audio-Technica ATH-G*, Beyerdynamic MMX* or Sennheiser PC* series. These are classic mid-tier hi-fi/studio headphones with a microphone attached, and a 3.5mm jack connector (as opposed to XLR on respective professional models). I suppose the same could apply to the often recommended solution of hi-fi headphones + ModMic.

The respective headphones would normally get plugged into either a dedicated "audiophile" DAC&amp, or an audio interface for recording (with XLR inputs).

What is there with the 3.5mm jack for microphone input though?

• On-board audio isn't always adequate.
• There are plenty of $1-20 USB dongles from various/no-name brands, typically with a C-Media chip, and their quality is hit or miss in my experience.
• Asus Xonar and Creative Sound Blaster, yes, but after trying multiple models, I'm disappointed by the state of Linux support (or lack thereof). They're always doing weird things with volume controls or switching line-in and microphone input (or line-out and headphone output) in firmware. (Alas, EPOS/Sennheiser GSX* might fall into this category too, based on my cursory search.)

Is there anything I'm missing?

Am I condemned to cheap-dongle lottery?

I'm not from from a mate-drinking country. I've been trying different things; barbacuá and Uruguayan mate are the two categories that I haven't explored.

I'm actually drinking Paraná Tropeira PU1 right now, but I have no idea how representative it is of Uruguayan style of mate. It's a bit too harsh for my taste. I've tried both cold and hot (75 °C) water. Borderline too bitter (although I got used to mate being bitter in general) with hints of smokiness (see below). The only other similar product I've had was Fede Rico La Mejor, and it was my least favorite Fede Rico. For similar reasons, and "burnt rubber" notes didn't help.

Still, I keep seeing people rave about Canarias and I'm intrigued. As mainly a tea drinker, I'm actually not a fan of "breakfast" blends, the strong black tea may even give me nausea at times, yet I do occasionally enjoy a very carefully steeped higher-grade malty Assam. I think I'm drawn to the Uruguayan mate for similar reasons.

I have no interest in explicitly smoky stuff, because I don't like the taste to the point that I'm sometimes strongly repulsed. Alas, it happened to me with Pajarito a few times, and happens to me with food regularly. I hated the smell of dark roast for most of my life too, probably because of the association with my grandparents' burnt cheap coffee. Thus, trying tostado was a challenge.

Would you recommend something (anything?) Uruguayan with all that said?

If so, one vendor in my area consistently stocks Canarias and Rei Verde, so I'm wondering if perhaps Canarias Edición Especial is representative enough.