How to drink mate without making a soup

A cultural foundation, a deep-rooted tradition and a highly praised group ritual. In Argentina you can’t go to any park without finding someone passing around a cup mate with a big thermos in it’s hand. Argentineans drink mate for breakfast, at work, in meetings, in the wardrobe before soccer games, and in the afternoon get-togethers.

The tea beverage made of the leaves of the small tree Yerba Maté was first cultivated of the indigenous Guarní people in Argentina, southern Brazil ans Uruguay, Paraguay. Nowadays, it is a national beverage drunken everywhere and anytime. The infusion contains mateine or caffeine, that wake you up and stimulate the central nervous system. Full of antioxidants and vitamins, this drink brings you a lot of health benefits. It is mostly drunken warm, but there is also a cold variant cold tereté with orange juice instead of water. The silver straw with a filter, bombilla, is shared, and no-one is afraid of germs. That is to say, if you are sick, you politely decline the offer and explain that you don’t want to contaminate the others.

Getting mate-ready

To prepare a mate someone first needs to take the responsibility to be the server or cebador. Warm water up to 60-70 degrees, it is not supposed to be too hot and cause tongue burns. Pour the yerba mate covering about 75 % of the mate cup in a vertical way and add herbs or honey if you would like. The taste is pretty bitter, so you need to give it some time at first. When the mate is passed on to you, don’t touch the bombilla’s out of it’s place as this is considered rude. Sip it carefully until you hear a gurgling sound when there is no more water left, and pass it back to the server who will poor water again and give it to the next person in the circle. If someone says gracias, it means that they don’t want to have another one. If you stay with the mate in your hands for too long, expect someone to tell you that «the mate is not a microphone». It is important not poor too much water at a time, the upper leaves are supposed to stay dry so the mate effect will last longer. Making a soup of the mate is a big NO. After drinking a lot, the leaves will all get wet and loose it and «die». Time to do it all over!