Mate (pronounced with an accent on the e, similar to café), for many South Americans, is like a cup of tea for the English. Drunk daily by many, it’s seen as a relaxing social ritual.
Drinking mate involves filling up a cup (called a mate or guampa), with yerba mate, a dried and crushed up plant found in South America, pouring hot water over it, and then sucking the now infused hot water out through a special filtered straw (a bombilla).
Not to everyones taste, it can be a little bitter for some. Here’s my favourite ways of drinking mate.
With Sugar
Just like having a cup of tea or coffee, if you don’t like the bitter taste, sweeten it up, simply by mixing some sugar in with the yerba. Start with half a teaspoon or so, pouring it on top of the mate, and let the hot water dissolve it. Add more sugar if need be.
Out of a grapefruit
Another method of hiding the bitterness. Cut the top off of a grapefruit. Crush down the flesh and suck out the juice. It’s important to leave the flesh in there, as that is what will give the mate it’s extra flavour. Pour in the Yerba, add hot water and sip away.
Traditionally
Straight. Prepare the mate as described in the second paragraph. The trick really is getting the perfect temperature in the water. Mate water should not be boiled. You should stop the jug just before it gets to boiling point. Boiling water can change the taste of the mate, as well as burn your tongue.
With ice cold water
This is my favourite. Technically this is called Terere. On a stinking hot day, like you often find in Paraguay where this brew is a religion, grab your thermos, fill it with ice and a little water, pour your yerba into your guampa, and sip away. If you want some extra flavour, you can add mint or lemon in with the water.
Sharing with friends
Above all else, drinking Mate is a social ritual. The mate always gets offered around, people sharing from the same straw. It bonds new friends together, and cements old friendships. And this ritual is really what makes mate a great drink.
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