Ilex paraguariensis leaves steeped in a hollowed gourd, sipped through a metal bombilla straw. Bitter, grassy, caffeinated.
Indigenous Guaraní drink the Jesuits domesticated in 17th c. Paraguay missions; spread across the Río de la Plata. Argentina now consumes ~6.4 kg per capita yearly — more than coffee.
Argentine law INTA standardizes mate cuts — con palo (with stem) is the traditional blend; sin palo (leaf only) is stronger and more bitter. The first pour, lavado, is traditionally drunk by the cebador (server) themselves.
Bitter green-tea sharpness with a hay-and-tobacco undertone. Foam (espuma) on top from the first pour. Drunk hot or cold (terere in Paraguay), passed in a circle, one gourd one bombilla shared by all.
Leaves are packed at a 45° angle so dry side stays dry; cold water wets the slope first to protect the cut. Then 70-80°C water — never boiling, which scorches the saponins and turns it acrid.
Variations
Argentine amargo (no sugar, the purist way); Uruguayan version uses larger gourds and hotter water; Paraguayan tereré served ice-cold with herbs (yuyos) like mint and lemon verbena pounded in.
On the Palate
Where Yerba Mate sits in the Argentinian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 1How it's made
4 steps · 17 min active · 2 min waiting
- 11 min
Fill mate gourd 3/4 with yerba leaves; tilt to mound on one side.
- 21 min
Insert bombilla straw at an angle through the mounded leaves into the empty side.
- 32 min
Pour 30 ml cool water on the leaves to wet, then pour 70 °C water along the side near the straw.
- 415 min
Sip slowly through bombilla; refill with hot water repeatedly over 15 min.
