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Argentina and Yerba Mate

By Elaine Sanchez

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Where does Yerba Mate come from?

It is now found around the world with Messi the famous soccer player and his team drinking it at the Mundial of soccer. Also the Argentinians who moved to Europe and the USA. They brought this drink and custom to the world but it was a custom in Argentina long before this surge in interest. Let me tell you a little about this in this short slide show.

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Map of South America

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Argentina

T/tT

The Province of

Misiones

in

North Eastern

Argentinia

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Posadas, Argentina

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The Parana River flows by the Provinces of Corrientes, and Misiones. The river starts in Brazil and flows south through the north of Argentina. Then it flows all the way south to Buenos Aires and out into the Rio de la Plata and the Atlantic Ocean.

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A street in the city of Corrientes.

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A Brief History of the yerba plant

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The yerba plant is found in the northern part of Argentina, the southern parts of Brazil and Paraguay.

Yerba has been drunk in this area for centuries. It was used long before the Spanish arrived.

The Guarani were the ones who originally drank it.

Today it is enjoyed by people all over Argentina, Paraguay, the south of Brazil and Uruguay. An interesting note is it has spread around the world and students and others are drinking it for its caffeine to stay awake.

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The traditional way to drink mate is in a group. The woman standing is the server. She will fill the mate with hot water and pass it to each person.

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How to prepare mate for a small group of friends

• First: Heat the water in a small pava(kettle) to almost boiling. Never let it boil.

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• Second: Prepare the mate by adding the dried yerba and bombilla(metal straw) to the gourd.

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• Third: Pour a little water in the mate and taste it. Then pour a second time and pass it to the first guest. They sip it and then pass it back to the server.

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• Fourth: The server pours water again and passes it to the next person in the group. People visit and talk as the mate is passed around the group. This continues as long as the group stays and talks and the server pours the water.

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This is a small kettle(pava) that is used for heating and serving the mate.

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Dried yerba.

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The mate

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This is a gourd that is made into a mate.

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Dried leaves, the yerba, are placed in the gourd. The gourd needs to be cured before it is used to drink the yerba. Once it has been cured the gourd is ready to use for drinking the yerba..

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Mates from my collection.

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Mate plantation in Misiones.

The yerba leaves being transported to

the processing plant by local

growers.

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During my stay in Argentina in July, 2024, I traveled north from Corrientes to Misiones to visit a yerba processing plant in Jardin Americas. It is a cooperative of farmers called Flor de Jardin (Garden Flower). While I was there, I saw a video with my group about the mate plant and the processing factory.

We then went outside and put on hardhats for our tour of the plant. The gude talked to us outside about the yerba plant. Then we moved on to the factory floor. No pictures were allowed there, but I did take some outside on the grounds and in the reception lobby.

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The modern way to drink mate is with the hot water in a thermos on the go. The older people still follow the custom of sitting in a group. The younger crowd takes it anywhere and everywhere they go. So wherever you are in Argentina you will see the Argentines drinking mate. It is a national custom.