Yerba mate is a plant species of the holly genus Ilex
native to South America. The leaves of the plant can be steeped in hot
water to make a beverage known as mate. Brewed cold, it is used to make
tereré. Both the plant and the beverage contain caffeine.
The
infusion, called mate in Spanish-speaking countries or chimarrão in
Brazil, is prepared by filling a container, traditionally a small,
hollowed-out gourd, up to three-quarters full with dry leaves (and twigs)
of I. paraguariensis, and filling it up with water at a temperature of
70–80 °C (158–176 °F), hot but not boiling. Sugar may or may not be added.
The infusion may also be prepared with cold water, in which case it is
known as tereré.
Drinking mate is a common social practice in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina,
southern and central-western Brazil among people of all ages, and is often
a communal ritual following customary rules. Friends and family members
share from the same container, traditionally a hollow gourd (also called a
guampa, porongo, or simply mate in Spanish, a cabaça or cuia in
Portuguese, or a zucca in Italian), and drink through the same wooden or
metal straw (a bombilla in Spanish or bomba in Portuguese). The gourd is
given by the brewer to each person, often in a circle, in turns. The
recipient drinks the few mouthfuls in the container, and then returns the
mate to the brewer, who refills it and passes it to the next person in
clockwise order. The recipient is not supposed to give thanks until they
are done drinking the beverage, and if they do, they will not be served
any more mates. Although traditionally made from a hollowed calabash
gourd, these days mate "gourds" are produced from a variety of materials
including wood, glass, bull horns, ceramic, and silicone.