What is Yerba Mate?

Yerba Mate is a tea-like beverage that is consumed mainly in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil. It is brewed from the dried leaves and stems of the Yerba Mate tree (Ilex paraguarensis).

The infusion is prepared from the leaves of the Mate tree, a native of the tropical rain forests of northeastern Argentina, eastern Paraguay and southern Brazil.

The infusion is traditionally prepared by steeping the tea leaves in hot (not boiling) water in a hollowed gourd. The vessel can be a hollow gourd made from the dried fruit casing of a common calabash, wood or even a cow horn.

The gourd is filled two thirds full with the dried yerba mate tea leaves, then each time water is poured in, the drinker sips the infusion through the bombilla ( a filtered metal straw).

More recently it has become popular in the rest of the world, especially due to the many health benefits of drinking Yerba Mate.

These include:

Yerba Mate comes in the traditional blends with or without stems, flavored with traditional herbs and citrus peels like orange, lemon and grapefruit.

There are also some non traditional blends with Guarana Berry and weight loss blends that contain Kelp and Celery.

Yerba mate is available in tea bags for easy convenience, also many drinker are using a French Press and traditional drip type coffee makers to infuse the coarse blend tea.

Some of the common names are Paraguayan tea or Jesuit tea.