Obviously, Mate is a drink that Argentines love to have most of the day. It is kind of…like having a cup of coffee but not exactly …did I confuse you?
Obviously, Mate is a drink that Argentines love to have most of the day. It is kind of…like having a cup of coffee but not exactly …did I confuse you?
MATE ORIGINS
It is a traditional South American drink that has more prominence in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Southern Brazil. On the first three; the predominance is all over the country.
Now if we only concentrate on Argentine people drinking mate, I could describe it as a “religion.” However, if you are not used to drinking mate it might not be a super pleasant experience,
In order to have mate, we need to obtain the yerba. Yerba is harvested when the leaves are mature enough. Then the leaves are taken to be dried by heat for just a little bit to take the moisture from the plant, After that, the leaves are ground and stored for a minimum of 9 months when the yerba is packaged.
Mate is an acquired taste and for many, especially foreigners, it might not taste “perfect” or “very good” but you will not die from it. You just keep having it until one day you can’t live without it! (and this is coming from a Mate fanatic like Dr.P 😉
I never ever travel anywhere without my mate kit, even after all of these years. It is like the husband I never had:-)
Mate is a warm drink that you drink with friends, however now with the Pandemic, the mate sets are individual.
Until the pandemic, it was the person who prepared the mate the one serving it, and passing it around. It is called “la ronda de mate,” the mate round where there is a group of people having mate. Everybody had mate from the same straw, not very sanitary but it was always done this way. (this is no more the case now with the Pandemic). Once the person finishes drinking the mate after a few sips from the metal straw, then it passes it back to the mate “pourer” who will fill back up the mate and instinctively -they really remember the mate queue- will give it to the next person in line. The mate rounds keep going until the mate loses its flavor, it washes out, and the mate pourer with the consent of the group changes the yerba mate and prepares for the next mate rounds.
This below is a new slogan for a campaign for folks not to share the mate as it was always done between friends and family
CAMPAIGN
“¡CADA UNO CON SU MATE, NOS CUIDAMOS ENTRE TODOS!” (Each person with a mate, we take care of each other)
MATE ELEMENTS: yerba, a mate cup, a metal straw, water at mate’s special temperature which for me means almost at a boiling point. I love my mate hot!
The mate leaves are dried and ground and it turns into yerba mate for you to pour on the mate cup!
EVOLUTION OF THE MATE
The traditional mate is a dried gourd Mate is a type of gourd, it used to be made of calabash gourd that was dried and emptied out, and then it was turned into a mate cup. Those mate cups are still used today although as you will see here, many types of mate cups!!!
Mate ends when the water washed out the yerba’s taste. However, you can empty the mate of its yerba and replace it for another round.
MORE MATE AT A MATE FAIR in BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
There is a Mate Fair and a Mate-specific site in Argentina. I attended the fair, as any mate “addict,” and it was really awesome! anything and everything about mate is here! of course, all of the good of mate!
The fair was free and it had exhibits of all parts of the mate, experts on yerba mate with talks and workshops on mate, information about the latest research, and most of the mate producers were present. It was an incredible event!
RITUAL OF THE MATE
Since I have had mate for many years, here is my way of having mate. The mate ritual takes into consideration that you need to heat up the water temperature at a certain level, to be exact 75C to 85C. The water can’t be too hot because the yerba mate (the type of tea you put inside) loses its flavor. You pour a bit more of half a mate cup of yerba mate. There are different versions of mate plastic, metal, even Stanley makes a version!
Once you say the word thank you is over. The word “thank you” in mate language means I am done, no more mate for me. However, the “matero” (the person who is in charge of pouring the mate) can keep pouring mate for the rest. The round finishes until are done with your yerba unless someone volunteers to go and buy more yerba.
There is a huge variety of mate cups. One can find plastic, metal, wood, glass you name it. There are beautiful mate kits and mate bags. The traditional mate bags were made of leather. The gauchos used specially made leather carry bags to carry their mate kits. The kit consists of your mate, your metal straw, your container where you keep your yerba mate, and another container for sugar.
MATE STRAWS
These are metal straws called “bombillas.”
Definitely need them, you need to such into that sucket to get the mate infusion out of that cup, however, do it at a nice pace…not too quickly not too slow…it takes time to such a good mate:-)
MATE PERKS (things you are allowed to put in the mate cup)
Mate perks are elements you add to the mate to taste different. Nowadays folks are adding coconut, not oil!!! just some shaved coconut but it is just a fad that might be short-lived. Coconut is not common in Argentina and it is quite pricey. A perk can be putting some dried orange peel, mint leaves, Kedron (a lovely infusion from South America, it has medicinal purposes and tastes a bit like lemon), coffee, etc. No cinnamon Argentines have not acquired a taste yet for anything that has to do with cinnamon.
Mate/Yerba Properties
- It has vitamin B1
- It has vitamin B6
- Contains Potassium
- Contains Magnesium
- A powerful antioxidant, 60% more than Green Tea. did I convince you to try it?
- It assists in reducing bad cholesterol
WHERE TO HAVE MATE
Anywhere at any time is good for a mate. You can have a mate on the bus, at a park, at the beach, or in your office, while teaching, there is no more strict mate etiquette. When I was very young, mate was not an in thing and I always like things that were not in 🙂
Above just traveling with my mate. It has been my best friend on my travels!
♥ Who drinks mate? everybody! ♥
At what age can you start drinking mate?
𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵, 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆.
TRUE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT YERBA MATE
There is so much history and work on the yerba mate that there is a NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF YERBA MATE in Argentina. Research institutes are important, they have studied analyzed a subject developing and disseminating knowledge.
˜”°•.˜”°• KNOWLEDGE IS POWER •°”˜.•°”˜
MATE STATUES
We all know statues represent something truly important for the community or the society of a country, it represents a common symbol to a group of people. A statue is also a teachable moment where we represent something dear to our hearts, and what about MATE??!!
Where do people drink mate besides Argentina?
Well, I lived in the middle east and I used to buy my yerba from Siria. Why? well, Argentina had large immigration from Siria in the 1850’s, to the point that the mate went all the way from Argentina back to Siria.
Mate is so popular in Siria that the country is the largest importer of yerba in the world!
This is the package of yerba I bought in Egypt. It is Argentine yerba packaged in Siria. It was 15 times the price I pay in Buenos Aires although since the country has such inflation you never know how much it will cost tomorrow.
You are talking about that yerba has gone around the globe!
COUNTRIES IMPORTING YERBA:
- Siria
- Chile
- Lebanon
- USA
- France
Mate has a bad side, a very sad one that I would love to see changed right away. CHILD LABOR! 🙁
MORE ABOUT DRINKING MATE COMING UP!!! (yes, it never ends)
