Yerba mate leaves steeped in a hollow gourd and sipped through a metal straw (bombilla). Argentina's daily ritual: an infusion drunk hot or cold, shared in a circle, the original social caffeinated beverage.

Yerba mate is indigenous to the Guarani people of the Parana basin in pre-Columbian times. Jesuit missions cultivated it commercially in the 1600s in northeast Argentina. Today the average Argentine drinks 6.5 kg of yerba mate a year, more than any other country; the ritual remains intact (the cebador prepares and passes the gourd around the circle).

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Make it at home

Serves 210 minEasy

Ingredients

  • 1 mate gourd (calabaza), cured
  • 1 bombilla (metal straw)
  • 60g yerba mate (about three-quarters of the gourd)
  • 1 litre water, heated to 70-80C (NEVER boiling)
  • Optional: orange peel, mint, dried herbs (yuyos)

Method

  1. Fill the gourd two-thirds full with yerba. Cover with your palm and tip upside-down to push the powder to the top; this protects your lungs.
  2. Tip the gourd back to 45 degrees so the yerba forms a wedge with one empty side.
  3. Pour a small amount of cold water into the empty side to wet the yerba at the base; let it absorb for 30 seconds.
  4. Insert the bombilla into the wet yerba at the base (filter end down). Do not stir it once in.
  5. Pour hot water (70-80C, never boiling) over the bombilla side, just enough to wet the wedge without flooding.
  6. Drink the entire serving through the bombilla in one go; do not pass it on partially drunk.
  7. Refill with hot water and pass to the next person in the circle. Re-pour 20-30 times before the yerba is washed out.

Editor tip. Boiling water burns the yerba and makes it taste bitter. Use a kettle with a temperature setting or stop just before the boil.