Drink Up Mate

Every weekend in Recoleta, Buenos Aires there is a huge sell and do anything and everything-circus-festival-tango dancing-hair braiding-musician performing-show, observed by locals relaxing on grassy knolls, while sharing a round of mate.

You may be asking your self, “What’s a round of mate?” Well for starters you’re probably pronouncing it wrong.

Mate (pronounced mah-tay) is an ancient and medicinal herbal tea originating from the Guarani Indians of South America. The mate or Yerba mate as it is also called, is made from the dried and chopped leaf of the llex paraguayenisis plant, a relative of the common holly.

Nothing captures the essence of Argentina or Buenos Aires more then mate. Argentina is the world’s largest producer and consumer of Yerba mate and Argentines consume an average of 5kg per person per year, more then four times their average intake of coffee. Sorry Starbucks!

However, mate is more then just a drink it is a custom; meant to be shared among friends and family, in a ritualistic ceremony. One person the cebador (server) fills the mate gourd almost to the top with the dried herb, and then heated but never boiling water is poured into the gourd. The drink is then sipped through a bombilla, a silver metal straw with a strainer on the end that prevents the leaf particles from entering the tube. The gourd is then passed clockwise to the next person after the first cup is drunk dry by the cebador. Each person drinks the gourd dry each time and then passes it back to the cebador for a refilling from the thermos of hot water. A good cebador will keep the mate going without changing the Yerba for some time.

Part of the charm comes from choosing just the right mate gourd. There are many different shapes and sizes, from the gourd to ultra expensive sterling silver antiques. One can shop to their hearts content at the Recoleta weekend fair; every other vendor sells some form of the mate cup.

Not surprisingly many mate-drinking Argentineans will not go anywhere without a thermos under their arms and a mate gourd in their hands. Even gas stations in Argentina are equipped with giant tanks of precisely heated water for drinkers on the road.

According to nutritionists mate helps improve mental clarity and digestion, regulates appetite, increases endurance, sustains energy levels, boosts the immune system, helps relieve allergies, detoxifies the blood, and relieve depression.

Perhaps this is the secret of the beautiful people in Buenos Aires?

So, my husband, Jon and I decided we had to try mate for ourselves. Our Buenos Aires rental apartment came equipped with a thermos, mate gourd, and bag of mate; it was advertised as fully furnished and in Argentina that means complete with mate and accessories.

We cleaned out the silver plated gourd that was sitting on the shelf in the kitchen.

“Ok, ok, first we need to make some hot water, but not boil it,” I instructed Jon.

Jon threw the kettle on the stove and began heating the water, while I opened the bag of dried herb.

“Alright, now we are supposed to fill this 2/3 full,” I spoke to myself while spooning loose tea particles into our gourd, half of which I spilled on the kitchen counter.

“Now we’re supposed to wet the tea with cold water and insert the straw.”

The kitchen was beginning to look like a mate factory had exploded. Mate was on the floor, the counters and all over my hands.

“Now pour that hot water in, right next to the straw,” I told Jon.

He poured the water in, overflowing wet mate down the sides of the cup.

“Ok, now we let it sit a minute. You go first,” I taunted Jon.

He took a sip through the filtered straw and got a mouthful of green particle filled water.

“Yuck!” Jon said while spitting the tea into the sink.

“It’s that bad? Let me try.”

I took a small sip and repeated what Jon had just done.

“Aw that’s terrible! Maybe we didn’t do it right?”

We dumped out the cup we had made and tried again, but got the same results.

“Ok, one more time,” Jon said.

We packed the gourd again, wet it, inserted the straw, and poured in hot water. I took a big sip and got chills.

“Ok, this shit is nasty!” I said.

I’m still not convinced we did the whole mate thing correctly. It can’t possibly taste that bad and be drunk by millions.

Here in the US Yerba Mate is sold at pretty much every grocery and health food store. You can purchase it loose leafed or in portioned tea bags. I admit that making it using the classic tea bag brewing method it is a fine tea and I drink it all the time. Maybe one needs to be Argentinean born and bred to appreciate and master the art of Mate?