Yerba Maté

Yerba Maté is tea consumed on a daily basis by almost all Paraguayans. The yerba maté plant is native to Paraguay. I like to compare it to a cross between Green tea and Oolong or Lapsang Souchong. It has certain smokiness about it, but also maintains a very herbal freshness at the same time. Depending on the time of year, Paraguayans travel with a thermos of hot or cold water, a maté(cup) and a bombilla (silver straw). The tea can be served hot (maté) or cold (tereré). It can blended with lemon and herbs like mint or served sweetened with milk (maté cocido).

Drinking maté is often a communal activity. When you are with friends a communal maté vessel is passed around and shared. 

 La Bombilla - a straw made from silver with a strainer attached to the tip to separate out the maté pulp as you sip.

I keep my yerba maté in a glass jar. It takes anywhere from a 1/2 cup to full cup of ground mate leaves to fill your vessel. The bombilla is then pushed into the mate leaves. Water is then poured into the vessel. The water is left to stand for a minute or two. The first sip of mate is really bitter. You pour off the water the first and second times you fill the vessel, but by the third filling your maté is ready!

My maté cup (called a maté) is made from fragrant palo santo wood. Palo Santo wood is one of the hardest woods found in the world. The maté can be found in many forms including the guampa (bull's horn) or calabaza (gourd). They are often accented with leather.