Yerba mate

Yerba mate or hierba mate ({{IPA2|'ɟɛrβa 'mate}}), or sometimes called simply yerba, is a shrub in the holly family Aquifoliaceae, native to South America, used as a herbal tea. Mate is the correct spelling, but it is often misspelt "maté" or even "matte", a sort of hypercorrection intended to signal that the word is foreign, or does not have a silent e, or is otherwise distinct from the normal English word "mate". (Cf. the occasional English spelling "saké" of the Japanese loanword "sake")

Variants and trivia

In Uruguay the traditional mate is usually big and has a large hole. In Argentina (especially in the capital, Buenos Aires) the mate is small and has a small hole, and people sometimes add sugar for flavor.

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In Uruguay it is not uncommon to see people walking around the streets toting a mate and a thermos with hot water. There is even a national law that prohibits drinking mate while driving, because it caused many accidents of people getting burned with hot water while driving.

Related Topics:
Uruguay - Thermos

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In some places of Argentina, gas stations sponsored by yerba mate producers provide hot water for free to travellers, specifically for the purpose of drinking during the journey.

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In Brazil, traditionally prepared mate is known as chimarrão. Nowadays, in Brazil, mate is also toasted and prepared in a similar manner to black tea. You can easily find "tea bags" and prepacked "iced tea" packages and bottles at supermarkets, restaurants and even at fast food chains. This is also true of Argentina, where people make (or buy bags of) mate cocido, to be served in a cup.

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Most Chileans are not mate drinkers. However, the people of its southern regions, particularly Chiloé and Magallanes, consume large amounts of it as a legacy of the generations of natives who travelled to Argentina to find work and eventually returned.

Related Topics:
Chile - Chiloé - Magallanes

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In some provinces of the Middle Eastern states Syria and Lebanon it is common to drink Maté. The Maté was imported from Arab emmigrants in South America returning to their home-countries.

Related Topics:
Syria - Lebanon

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There is another drink that can be prepared with specially cut dry leaves, very cold water and, optionally, lemon or other fruit juice, called tereré.

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