Mate - Not Just Tea, But Also A Drink Of Communication
Author: Nia Rouseberg
Time for reading: ~1
minutes
Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
Mate is a tea-like beverage. It is distributed in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, where it is considered a traditional part of ...
Mate is a traditional South American drink containing caffeine. It is most common in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile, Syria and Lebanon. It is prepared from dried leaves of the Yerba Mate plant . The leaves are boiled in hot water.
Mate is not served in ordinary glasses, but in special hollow gourds with a metal straw called bombilla . The bomb is made of stainless steel.
The dried Yerba Mate leaves are finely chopped before being boiled in water to obtain an almost powdery mixture called yerba . The straw is specially made and acts as a brush so that part of the yerba cannot get into the mouth.
It is believed that the consumption of Mate is not only good for the body. Drinking this drink can become a form of meditation, stimulation of positive emotions and relaxation of the mind.
As a drink, mate resembles tea and coffee. It is considered a safe drink. Moreover, a 1995 study by the University of Illinois found that Yerba Mate could prevent the appearance of cancer cells in the oral cavity.
Mate is rich in riboflavin , nicotinic and pantothenic acid, carotene, iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, tannin and essential oils.
Yerba Mate leaves provide the necessary phosphorus for the body, regulate blood cholesterol, purify the blood and maintain normal blood pressure.
In countries where Mate is a traditional drink, it is not only considered a tonic and invigorating. Making Mate is a ritual, a ceremony and a tradition. Mate is drunk collectively - several people drink from one gourd, and their number should be about 8. The person who prepared Mate leads the ceremony.
When yerba is flooded with hot water, it is covered by hand, right if prepared by a man and left - by a woman. Mate is drunk slowly, to the bottom and still warm, so as not to disturb the rhythm of the ceremony.
After the first one drinks the contents of the gourd, he passes it to the guide, who refills it with water and passes it to the next one in the circle. The duration of the ceremony, which is attended by about 8 people, is approximately one hour.
Nowadays, Mate can be drunk anywhere in the world, but not as a traditional drink, perceived as a tea drink.
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