As we recall, Starbucks created the coffee phenomenon in the US with their tall non-fat sugar-free vanilla lattes (or whatever your drink of choice is). In Uruguay there is a similar phenomenon but one that has been around for much longer than Starbucks. This phenomenon is mate (pronounced like latte “mah-tay”).
What is mate? The short of it is that mate is a caffeinated drink made from an herb, looking like a form of loose leaf tea. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. In Uruguay, mate is a way of life. The interesting part is that, unlike Starbucks to-go cups, mate is drank from a device that is anything but disposable. I will explain…
There are several components necessary for drinking mate. The first is the herb mate itself. As a mentioned before this looks like a loose leaf tea. Actually mate is drank in many parts of South America and the industry is huge. Second, there is the cup that holds the herb. The cup is made from a hollowed gourd and is “seasoned” rather than cleaned between uses to enhance the flavor each time it is used. Third, there is the straw. The straw looks like a regular straw except that it is either silver or stainless steel and one end of the straw is closed and flattened with tiny holes, acting as a strainer. Last, there is the thermos. The thermos can be a regular old thermos or some people have beautiful, leatherbound ones. Regardless of the decoration, the thermos contains the hot water needed to steep the herb mate. The pictures below show all the different parts of equipment. These are sold everywhere in markets around Montevideo.
So how does this all work? The herb mate goes into the gourd (I won’t dwell on this part, but apparently there is much preparation and care in this act), the straw goes into the herb mate, the hot water is poured in and you drink.
I’m sure this sounds insignificant, but it is anything but here because it truly is part of their way of life. Mate, and all the indisposible equipment, goes everywhere with everyone - work, home, shopping, the futbol game, waiting for the bus - everywhere. All these places, you see people with a thermos tucked under one arm and the mate gourd in that same hand. Case in point, see the picture below, taken at the Uruguay v. Bolivia game. I have tried to get other pictures of mate drinking in other strange places, but I have felt awkward taking pictures of people while shopping, so you’ll need to use your imaginations for the others.
In Uruguay, there is actually a law against driving and drinking mate because of the hot water scalding issues. Can you imagine if we were prohibited from drinking our Starbucks while driving in the US - oh the horrors!!!! I have a goal to try mate before I leave Uruguay. I say it is a goal, because in order to try it, you must find someone who is willing to share with you. Once I have made friends and tried it, I will report back…until then, cheers to caffeine, in whichever form you prefer!
Disclaimer: I am using Starbucks as a representative of coffee chains across the US. This does not indicate a preference to Starbucks, as I actually prefer Caribou lattes and Dunn Bros. brewed coffee the best.
Posted on October 30th, 2007 by katiejocannon
Filed under: Customs, Uruguay
Great report. And agreed on the ‘bou & Dunn’s scenes.
I bought some Mate at the Seward Coop last winter during my tea phase. It’s pretty good, less caffienated than coffee, but still caffienated. Of course, I was preparing it like normal tea with any special Mate equipment, so I haven’t REALLY experienced it yet.
Wow! That’s great that you’ve tried Mate. I can’t wait - I just keep hearing that it is like tea but bitter…we’ll see. In Argentina they drink it a lot but it’s become more commercialized - selling it in to-go froms like we usually see our teabags at home. Here in Uruguay it is a tradition and an involved process. I think it makes it pretty cool!
So wait a minute, couldn’t you buy one? How much do these things cost? I absolutely loved the investigative reporting, but i thought it was building up to you actually drinking some mate. I demand you spend some of that per diem and continue at once! By the way, I can’t stop pronouncing it mai tai in my head, which lisa and I have decided is a horrible drink.
And I really, really need more people getting their picture taken while drinking a mate. I have no clue why, but I find it hilarious.
I know - I really wanted to have tried Mate before writing this post, but I just haven’t yet. Apparently it’s not so easy to just buy the stuff and drink it…there is preparation involved and tradition. I think it would be cool to share with the locals here and really get the experience. I will definitely try to get more pics and will definitely report back when I try it!
I find all this about Mate fascinating! I can imagine all the years it took to fine-tune such a custom. the thermos are just beautiful in the pictures you have posted. I wonder….
If there are any smokers of argileh, I wonder how they drink the Mate and smoke the argileh at the same time.
I have not seen the two being done together, but here is definitely some “smoking” around here!
Interesting he is interested in the smokers, eh?
It is like Benito is having flashbacks of his desires from Amsterdam.
Voila!…you are set for your first yerba mate experience in South America..
Hello people… guess what i am from Uruguay!! yes. the mate kingdom he he. and the guy writing the article who i have no idea of who he is .. is right , mate is not just buying the stuff and preparing it is a ceremony that we Uruguayans don’t really know as one. I personally drink mate since i am 7 years old with my dad and maybe from before.
And since there i drink mate everywhere.
About tasting it .. it shouldn’t be a problem, the most important rule is that you can not deny mate to any one so next time you see someone drinking it specially in the Rambla Montevideo or those places here people are just chilling.. go and ask for one!!!
cheers
xi
I just returned from a 2 week trip to Argentina and I witnessed everyone there drinking mate. I even purchased a mate cup and I had someone cure it for me before drinking from it. This is very important when preparing to drink mate. The cup took two days to cure. Now that I’m back in the states and I tried to drink mate alone, it wasn’t the same. First the straw did not stop all of the tiny leaves and powder residue from getting in my mouth. I purchased the mate there and the straw was picked out by someone there, so I don’t know what I’m doing wrong…it was good but funny that my mouth was filled with mate powder…any suggestions?
Hi Jae - Hope you had a great trip! Argentina is so fabulous! About your mate, it’s great that you tried it and brought some home. I’m not an expert on mate, but I am curious that there is dry powder when you’re drinking it. When I had it in Uruguay, they prepared it by letting water soak all of the mate leaves. Then once everything was soaked and almost pasty looking, then they filled up the cup to the top and drank. So, essentially there was no dry substance in the porongo. Perhaps give that a try? I did write a second part to this post about when I actually tried mate…that provide a little more info on how my friend prepared it for me.
I found your blog via Google while searching for coffee mate and your post regarding Mate (mah-tay) looks very interesting to me. I could not believe the amount of quality material on this site. The site is extremely eyecatching and pulls the reader straight it, the articles are great quality and are very professionally written. I have seen too many of these sites where it looks like they pay an 8 year old to do the writing - Not this one. Your site is easily the best that I have seen in a long while.
the person who was in argentina shoud try a uruguayan yerba.because have more leaves [so straw should work much better]
Yep - I would agree with that.. Thanks for the line.