What Is YERBA MATE !?

If you visit countries like Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay in South America as I did, you’ll be unable to avoid this drink. In this post I’m not just going to tell you what this is and the benefits but I’ll also show you all the tricks I learned growing up in Argentina.

Alright, what’s this? This is called Mate. The most popular infusion in Argentina and countries nearby such as Uruguay (who can drink it literally 24/7), Paraguay and Brazil, although these 2 have their very own style and flavour.

In other words, it’s like a tea made from Yerba mate leaves that besides being super tasty, it has some very interesting health benefits. So let’s start from the beginning and as always I’ll explain this in 3 parts.

Before I forget, this is the video in case you prefer to watch a more complete version:

PART I: WHAT IS YERBA MATE?

The story begins with the indigenous people from the forests of Paraguay (the Guarani) and Southern Brazil (the Tupi). They found this herb, they believed it was “from the gods” and they used it mostly for physical stamina. So they also believed that Yerba Mate was a gift given to them to sustain life, increase vitality and heal the sick. In fact, there was some truth here because this herb (Yerba Mate) contains xanthines (acting as stimulants which can also be found in tea, coffee and chocolate) and it has a lot of antioxidants. So this means: boosting energy, mental focus, enhance physical performance and there’s also a lot of research around other benefits.

Yerba Mate is cultivated only in 3 countries in the world: Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. However Brazil and Argentina are the biggest players as they export 90% of all the Yerba in the world. And the top 3 countries that are buying this are Uruguay, Chile and Syria. Don’t ask me more details about Syria cause I have no clue how or why they like it so much. But if you know, please let me know in the comments. Then there’s other countries such as Germany, the US and Spain that they also buy Yerba but to be fair there’s a lot of Argentinians living in those countries so I’m not sure to what extend locals like it.

In Argentina, the plant is cultivated mainly in the Misiones Province (90% of the production) and the other 10% of the production comes from Corrientes province.

PART II: THE RITUAL

Mate is not just the equivalent of a cup of tea that other countries drink when they want. For Argentinians, Mate also has a ritual attached to it. There’s different situations that we typically drink it but let me share a very common one.

The mate cup and the bombilla are shared between everyone. One person is going to be serving the mate and we call it the “cebador” and this person will take on the task of serving and preparing the mate, making sure that it is dust-free and it has good quality. The cebador must always drink first otherwise it can be considered bad manners as the drink may be too cold or too strong. After the cebador has finished the first mate he passes it to his right. Then the 2nd person will drink it and then pass it back to the cebador once it is finished.

Some people like to sweeten the mate by adding sugar or but I’m not a big fan of this. And a true “gaucho” will probably say that if you add sugar, then you don’t like mate. Some people like to add lemon or orange peel. Personally I don’t, I’m a simple guy so I like simple things.

It’s true that we love drinking mate with friends, but it’s also fair to say that we drink mate as well on our own. For example, for me it’s literally a company. I drink mate pretty much all day. And when I was at university, it used to be my company whenever I had to study till very late. And today still my company when I work, on weekends and so on. It became an extension of my hand. I cover more details here.

PART III: HOW TO PREPARE MATE?

• Step 1: Heat the water to between 75 and 80 celsius. Never boil the water, it loses flavour. [B&W Between us… I must confess I sometimes boil it just because I like it very hot… just don’t tell my Argentinian friends about this, otherwise I might lose my passport]
• Step 2: Fill the gourd or calabaza three-quarters full with Yerba and shake it, making sure none of the leaves stick and try to eliminate all the powder, otherwise this will come with the water and won’t be very nice.
• Step 3: Tilt the Gourd or calabaza about 45 degrees, pour in the water little by little in a slow manner.
• Step 4: Let the water and Yerba combine for a second. Leave for just a couple of seconds.
• Step 5: Insert the bombilla, pinching the end of the mouthpiece with your thumb to avoid powder to enter and mini
• Step 6: Keep pouring in the water slowly and let it brew.
• Step 7: Enjoy!