Portal:Drink/Selected article/46
'Mate (/ˈmɑːteɪ/ MAH-tay, Spanish: [ˈmate], Portuguese: [ˈmatʃi]) is a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused herbal drink. It is also known as chimarrão or cimarrón,' and ka’ay in Guarani. It is made by soaking dried yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) leaves in hot water and is traditionally served with a metal straw (bombilla) in a container typically made from a calabash gourd (also called the mate), but also made from a cattle horn (guampa) in some areas. A very similar preparation, known as mate cocido, removes some of the plant material and sometimes comes in tea bags. Today, mate is sold commercially in tea bags and as bottled iced tea.
Mate has been originally consumed by the Guaraní and Tupi peoples, native from South America. After European colonization, it was spread all over Southern Cone countries, specifically Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile, but it is also consumed in the Bolivian Chaco and Brazil. Currently mate is declared national beverage in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. In Chile, mate is predominantly consumed in Central, Southern regions rather than Northern areas. Over time, mate was introduced to Lebanon and Syria, where it was brought by immigrants from Paraguay and Argentina. (Full article...)