What is yerba mate?

Yerba mate is a tea-like beverage mainly consumed in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil. ‘Yerba’ stands for the tea/herbal leaves, ‘mate’ is the drinking cup (gourd) from which one drinks the yerba, topped with hot water, through a ‘bombilla’ (filter straw).

It is brewed from the dried leaves and twigs of the evergreen tree ‘Ilex paraguarensis’. It is grown and processed mainly in South America, more specifically in northern Argentina (Corrientes, Misiones), Paraguay, Uruguay and southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul).

Growth process

Yerba grows wild or is planted in the sub-tropical jungle or in commercial plantations. Of the commercial plantations, some are planted and harvested by hand, while others are planted by machines and harvested by machines.

An average of 300,000 tonnes of mate is produced annually. The yerba mate plant is a shrub or small tree that grows up to 15 metres tall. The leaves are evergreen, 7-11 cm long and 3-5.5 cm wide, with a jagged margin. The flowers are small, green-white, with four petals. The fruit is a red drupe 4.6 mm in diameter.

Harvest

In plantations, yerba mate is allowed to grow to a height of about 15 metres (shorter if harvested with machines). In the wild, the ‘Ilex paraguarensis’ will grow to about 30 metres. Older trees are harvested every 4 years to preserve the natural vitality and excellent flavour of the yerba forests. In most plantations, workers are paid per kilo for cutting out the crop. The green stems, which grow in one season, are cut off, along with the leaves - unless a stronger blend is desired (a “despalada”: literally “without sticks”). Traditional methods are still practised in many large farms. Workers cut the branches with knives and transport them in folded white sheets to the ‘drying factories’ where they must be processed immediately to preserve the antioxidants and other medicinal properties.

Drinking yerba mate

Yerba mate gets its name from the traditional cup (mate) from which yerba (tea) is drunk. This drinking cup used to be a decorated, dried gourd, but nowadays they are made of all kinds of materials. In South America, it is still drunk from the special mate cup, sucking the tea through a metal or wooden straw (bombilla).

Drinking yerba mate is as common in South America as using coffee and tea in the rest of the world. Unlike coffee or tea, however, mate is nutritious, full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Among other things, it contains mate, the milder variant of caffeine. In cold weather, the drink is served hot; in hot weather, the water is often replaced with lemonade and thus drunk cold (tereré). Children often drink the yerba with lemonade.

Culture

Drinking yerba mate is considered a sign of friendship and is an extremely social and amicable event. The mate is drunk with family or close friends. When someone offers to share their yerba mate with you, it should be taken as the greatest possible compliment and received with great appreciation.

Sharing mate is almost perceived as ritualistic and has its own set of rules. In a traditional mate, there is one person who pours and serves the yerba mate. At a party with friends, this person is often the host (matero). During walks or at home, this responsibility may pass to the next person. Usually, the ‘matero’ will take the first drink himself as it is often quite bitter. Once done, the host/hostess will again fill the cup with hot water and serve it to the next drinker. The latter will also drink the entire contents of the mate before handing the cup back to the ‘matero’. The cup will be filled again and handed over to the next person. Thus, the mate goes around the circle many times until the yerba mate has no taste left. Since the yerba mate can be re-prepared as many times as one wants, a person may no longer wish to drink it. One can then say ‘gracias’ to the host and return the mate.

Some people feel that drinking from the same ‘bombilla’ is unhygienic. But this very fact makes sharing the yerba mate an intense event. You share with those with whom you would like to share your soul.

Many good qualities

The indigenous Guarani still prepare the tea today for health-promoting purposes. They use it to strengthen the immune system, purify and detoxify the blood, strengthen the nervous system, combat ageing, fight fatigue, boost the mind, control appetite, help with weight loss and against debilitation, stress and insomnia.

The name yerba or ‘hierba’ is Spanish for grass or herbs and ‘mate’ comes from the Indian language Quechan: where ‘matia’ means container and refers to the gourd in which yerba mate is traditionally served in South America.

Types of yerba mate

There are many brands and types of yerba, with and without sticks (‘con palo’ or ‘sin palo’). A premium yerba is a ‘sin palo’. Some varieties are less strongly flavoured, (‘mild’) and there are blends flavoured (aromatised) with mint, orange and lemon, among others.

So if you ask: what is yerba mate?

It is a form of friendship and a way of life that purifies the mind and body and thus helps us stay healthy.

Source:
Information of Gosmann, G., Schenkel, E.P. and Seligmann, O.; A New Saponin from Mate, Ilex Paraguarensis, J.Nat.Prod. 52(6), 1367 (1989)

More information about yerba mate?
Click here to read the pdf on ‘The drink of the gods” by Jorge Weil, MD © Los Angeles, CA - January 2006’ download.

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