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Svetlana
Hi everyone. I'd like to discuss MATE! Hi everyone, especially people from South America. I am curious about the beverage MATE. My daughter is obsessed with it lately. It is not a common drink in Russia so I wonder about its profits and healthy properties. I need the opinion of people for whom its a common drink or maybe you know a lot about it! I also would like to know some traditions of drinking it. Equipment and that stuff.Thanks in advance!
Mar 3, 2018 4:30 PM
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I had it in Argentina when I visited in 1989.  It's horrible.  It ranks up there with other foreign foods that I was brave enough to try but still remain horrible - like vegimite and fried driver ants.

We visited a Gaucho cattle ranch, watched horsemanship displays and ate that wonderful Argentine beef.  After lunch, tourists were invited to join the Gauchos in a drink of Mate at the bar.  I ambled on up and took a seat.  I should have known something was up when I noticed it was just me and the Gauchos.

Mate is like a tea, and you drink it through a metal straw that has a strainer on one end.  It is brewed by loading a gourd up with the leaves and adding boiling water.  You leave the strainer in the leaves and suck the tea through the straw.

It is really bitter and rather awful and I'm sure those who drink it regularly claim it is good for you in all sorts of ways.  The Gauchos thought I would turn green or throw up and were laughing at me but I finished it, and afterwards they shook my hand :-).  THEN they showed me how they sweeten it with juice or fruit or sugar.  It was a fun cross cultural moment.  It still was awful.  I had to gargle with Orangina soda all the way back to the hotel to get some of the taste out of my mouth

Did I mention it was horrible?

March 3, 2018
Hello svetlana, I am from south of Brazil, my city is border with Argentina and close from Uruguay. This drink called MATE is originally from here. Is a drink of the gaucho people who habits the south of South America. The MATE is made with tree leaf. the name of the tree is ilex paraguarensis. It’s like a tea you can drink with hot water but in the summer some peoples change the hot water to pineapple cold juice. It is a very healthy drink. you can check images of mate or chimarrão on google.
March 3, 2018

http://guayaki.com/mate/2931/Health-Benefits.html


http://guayaki.com/caffeine_meter.html

March 3, 2018

www.uexpress.com/tell-me-a-story/2014/8/10/yerba-mate-and-the-moon-a

This will take you to a short story which tells about the legend of "yerba mate." 

March 3, 2018
Hi Svetlana, you can probably get more information from someone from South America. However, I drank a can of mate infused with blueberries two nights ago. As a result of this, I think, I had too much energy to fall asleep. When I taught a Spanish class we learned about the customs of some people in South America who share a cup of mate in communal fashion. It is said to create both a feeling of calm as well as energy. As I said, in my case the feelings of energy tend to predominate. I'll be interested to learn more about this herb.
March 3, 2018
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Svetlana
Language Skills
English, Italian, Russian, Serbian
Learning Language
English, Italian