Yerba Mate has been my favourite drink since I was a little boy back in South America. It has provided me a massive energy boost like coffee but with less caffeine and much more nutrients. Let’s talk about productivity.

No surprises that Tim Ferriss described it as his morning cocktail. He thinks it’s like rocket fuel for the brain.

What’s Yerba Mate?

It’s a traditional tea made from the dried leaves of a native plant in South America, a species of holly: Ilex paraguariensis.

What Are The Health Benefits?

Antioxidants and nutrients higher than Green Tea – yerba mate contains xanthines (stimulants including caffeine and theobromine), caffeoyl derivatives (main antioxidants), saponins (anti-inflammatory properties) and polyphenols (reducing risk of diseases).

Increase mental focus and energy – yerba mate contains less caffeine than coffee but more than tea. It will give you a boost of energy and enhance your alertness without crazy effects like coffee.

Physical performance – there are studies showing that you can burn more fat during a moderate workout.

Lose weight – there are different studies showing that it can reduce your appetite. In fact, my experience when drinking mate is that I feel less hungry. However, after a certain period, I want to have a little snack with my mate. With coffee the story is different because I always want to have a snack with it!

There are more benefits but because many are not backed up completely by science and still need more investigation, I prefer to keep it short.

How Do You Prepare It?

Very simple. Fill the gourd with yerba, get rid of the powder by shaking it, pour water at 90C in a little hole, insert the straw, shape the hole and pour more water. Then sip and enjoy.

See this 60s video #SHORTS below to know how I drink it:

Where Do They Drink Mate?

The most common countries are Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil.

In Argentina, It’s the national drink and considered to be a social event when you’re with family and friends. Sharing the drink from one gourd (“calabaza”) is a sign of friendship. They even have a national mate day (30 November).

In Uruguay, you might even see people walking down the street sipping mate and carrying the thermos of hot water. It’s widely consumed and also considered a national drink.

In Paraguay, they call it “tereré”. It’s similar but prepared with cold water and ice, and served in a larger vessel. They can also have it with hot water but that’s less common.

In Brazil, they call it “chimarrão” and it’s more like a matcha green tea rather than yerba mate. The colour is a brighter green compared to the traditional yerba mate. It’s also bitter. In fact, the Brazilian chimarrão is common in the South. It’s a big country so there are lot of variations.

They also drink it in some parts of Chile and Bolivia but it’s less common.

Rules If You Drink With Somebody

1. Don’t ever try to wipe or move the straw (“bombilla”). The guy in charge of serving (“cebador”) will ask if you’re crazy.

2. Keep the order in which the gourd (“calabaza”) is flowing. You might get in trouble if you jump the queue!

3. You sip and you finish till you hear the air noise, meaning it’s over. Then you hand it back to the “cebador” so he can continue the round. If water still in your mate, then people feel you didn’t like it.

Final Thoughts

Mate has been my company for decades. I tried it for the first time when I was 6 or 7 years old because my dad loved it. It’s going from generation to generation. Initially I didn’t like it a lot but over time I enjoyed it very much.

At the beginning it was more like a tea for me. When I was a teenager it evolved into a social thing with friends and when being at University it was my night’s company when studying. It kept me focused.

Nowadays, I still drink it every single day. I consume probably 500 grams every month.

I don’t know what would I do without mate as it’s truly my productivity hack for everything I do. Please don’t tell anyone.

When are you going to try it?