Many students want to know what mate is. I have written a short text explaining it and here I share it with you all.
Mate is a caffeinated infusion prepared by steeping dried leaves of “yerba mate†in hot water. It is the national drink in Argentina and Uruguay and a common social practice in Paraguay and parts of Brazil but in Paraguay they use cold water and call it “tereréâ€.
Mate is the container where the Yerba Mate and the hot water is served. It is called like the drink itself and bombilla is a metallic straw that helps you drink the hot water in the Mate.
Introduced to the world by the Guarani Indians of South America, Mate contains ingredients that help keep its drinkers healthy and energetic.
Mate drinking is a ritual which is often shared with friends and family. One person prepares and tries the Mate. He then passes the prepared Mate for someone to enjoy. Each person drinks the mate until there is not more water in it.
The way of preparing mate is to put some Yerba Mate in the Mate (3/4 of yerba mate), pour some hot water in it and drink it through the Bombilla. When you feel there’s no more hot water to drink, you pour more hot water in the Mate and drink… and so on.
This water is usually carried on a tea kettle, pava in spanish, or in a thermo bottle.
The first times that you drink mate you may say it has a reallly bitter taste but it can be served with sugar to make it a little sweeter.
In Uruguay they are really fanatic. Part of the new, more informal way of life in Uruguay includes having people drinking Mate while on walks, sporting events, at work, and it is extremely popular among many student activities.
