| Argentina’s national drink, yerba mate (also called “Jesuits’ Tea), is an herbal infusion or tisane made from a plant in the holly family (Ilex paraguariensis), that is native to subtropical South America, and found in northeastern Argen- tina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Yerba mate was scientif- ically classified by Swiss botanist, Moses Bertoni, who settled in Paraguay in 1895. |
| The indigenous Guarani and Tupi people living in Southern Brazil and Paraguay were the first to consume yerba mate, as well as Spanish settlers in the late 16th century. The consumption of mate continued to spread to the River Plate, then on to Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru in the 17th century, becoming Para- guay’s main commodity.Jesuits domesticated the yerba mate plant in the mid 17th century, establishing planta- tions in their Indian reductions in Misiones, Argentina. However, they were expelled in the 1770s, and their plantations fell into ruin, taking their secrets of domestication with them. |
| In the 1930s when Brazil turned its attention to growing coffee, Argentina, who to that point had been a major consumer of mate, took over the main production, regrowing mate where the old Jesuits’ plantations had first been located in Misiones Province. Since then both Brazil and Argentina have vied as top producer of mate, with Brazil currently producing 53% of the total mate crop, followed by Argentina with 37%, and finally Paraguay with 10%.The yerba plant is a shrub or small tree that can grow up to 15 meters tall. Its leaves are evergreen, 7 to 11 cm long and 3 to 5.5 cm wide, and have a serrated edge. Its flowers are a greenish-white color with four petals. Yerba mate contains the same three xanthines as found in tea: caffeine, theobromine, and After harvesting the branches are dried, Lapsang Souchong or Russian Caravan Mate is prepared by steeping the dried leaves (and twigs) Just as coffee and tea houses are popular in Europe and the U.S., drinking mate together gong fu ceremony, sharing The flavor of mate is reminiscent of green tea with a strongly vegetal, herbal, and grassy tea bags (called mate cocida), and served sweetened, either hot or |
| shops and from street vendors. An iced, sweetened version of toasted mate is also available as a noncarbonated drink, either with or without fruit flavoring.In honor of Argentinian tea culture, with mate as its national drink, Starbucks included a mate latte on their menu when they opened their first outlet in Argentina. There are over 200 brands of yerba mate on the market, most in Argentina, with about Enjoy. |