Comment by nibbleshifter

I've found it depends on the mate.

The current bag I have, Rosamonte brand, seems to require freshly boiled, right out of the kettle water to get a good extraction.

The last bag I had was bitter if you used just boiled water, you had to let it go down in temp a bit to get a good brew.

I should probably buy a bunch of mates and check the dates to see if that's a variable I've not accounted for. Usually I know how to deal with a bag of it after making the first drink.