Yerba Mate 101: What Is It?

Yerba Mate 101: What Is It?

Highlights

  • Yerba mate is a caffeinated South American drink that is rising in popularity across the world.
  • Yerba mate is similar to tea and can be served either hot or cold.
  • The drink is usually enjoyed in a social setting, much like Topography's THC beverages.
  • You can enjoy the flavor of yerba mate in Topography's 10 mg and 30 mg Yerba Mate Lemon-Mint Trailblazer.

What is yerba mate?

You may already be familiar with yerba mate (pronounced YER-bah MAH-tay), a South American drink that’s been enjoyed for centuries by people of many cultures. Or maybe you were introduced to it through our Yerba Mate Lemon-Mint Trailblazer. Whether you’re well-versed in the world of mate or just now diving in, let’s explore this popular, caffeinated alternative to coffee and tea.

Wait, isn’t yerba mate a tea?

Officially, no. But also…kinda?

If we’re being specific, yerba mate (often shortened to just mate) is an infusion made from the yerba mate shrub. If we’re being fancy, its scientific name is Ilex paraguariensis (we’re not fancy, but we are plant people). This shrub is native to Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and is actually a cousin of the holly plant we often see used in landscaping. While it can grow to almost 50 feet tall, the demand for yerba mate means that it’s often harvested before it grows to that size.

Tea is technically made from the evergreen Asian shrub Camellia sinensis. While yerba mate is an infusion by definition, it’s totally fine to call it a tea. We often do.

What does yerba mate taste like?

Yerba mate has an earthy flavor and smells like eucalyptus. While the brewed beverage can be strong, our drinks have a light, lemony flavor that’s very similar to green tea. The subtle, minty aftertaste helps keep our Trailblazers refreshing no matter what you have planned for the day, whether you’re exploring the outdoors or binging your favorite show (and that bag of chips—no judgment). 

How is yerba mate made?

Yerba mate is served as a hot or cold beverage. The cold version is called tereré (pronounced teh-reh-REH). Paraguay even celebrates National Tereré Day on the last Saturday of February every year.

The hot version of the drink is traditionally prepared in a calabash gourd, which is also called mate. The gourd is half-filled with the toasted, dried leaves of the yerba mate plant, and the drink is brewed with almost-boiling water. You can also add toasted orange and lemon peels for an extra kick. Once prepared, mate is typically drunk with a special straw called a bombilla (bohm-BEE-yuh), which has a strainer at the end that filters out the milled mate.

Drinking mate is meant to be a social event. In South America, friends and families often pass around a single gourd of the drink. Sounds a lot like one of our favorite pastimes…

Stay tuned for Yerba Mate 102, where we’ll examine the cultural origins of mate!

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Author: Josh Garcia

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