Yerba Mate

 

Mate is an herb popular in Argentina as a tea-like drink either because of or in spite of the complex ritual usually used in its preparation. One must carry a special cup, often a hollowed out and decorated gourd; a silver filter/straw or bombilla; a thermos of hot water and a bag of dry mate. Several spoonfuls of mate are put in the cup followed by hot water. The user drinks through the straw and adds water as necessary.

All the equipment for drinking mate is readily available in tourist shops, but it isn’t just a tourist thing. We saw several obviously locals drinking mate.

Ed learned from a gaucha that proper preparation is part of the ritual. She half-seriously asked me to look away when she had to fill a mate cup with hot water from the “wrong” type of container. Ed found out later in a hotel that, when all else fails, mate is available in tea bags for easy use.

On the sidewalk at the Retiro railroad station in Buenos Aires, a man adds hot water to his mate.

Note the red-topped bag of mate on the right.

Gaucho on an estancia holds his cup of mate. (above, left)

 

Ed holds a trial cup of mate. (above, right)

 

Mate plants are used as table decorations in one hotel in Argentina. (right)

Display of bombillas (left side) and mate cups in an Argentine store.