Mate info- I can't figure out how to upload links so I copied and pasted

The Mate Ceremony

When people gather to dring mate something magical happens. It is a simple, humble, daily custom and yet it has all the characteristics of a ceremony. Like any other ceremony it has its rites which have to be carefully perfomed in the same way, day after day.

It is a moment leisure with friends and family. In the country, the gauchos sit together around the fogón (the campfire), sipping their mate after a long day’s work.

Tiredness breeds silence and silently the mate circles from hand to hand. And then, slowly, conversation starts, people come closer together, confidences are exchanged.

The mate ceremony resembles the American rite of the calumet, the pipe of peace. There, too, the pipe goes from hand to hand, completing the circle, offering hospitality and goodwill.

Mate is drunk by almost everybody: it is drunk by the trucker and his companion in the loneliness of the long, never-ending routes (they use a vessel with a wide mouth into which it is easy to pour the hot water in spite of the jolts along the track); by students when studying; by workers during their midday rest; at home for breakfast or on any other occasion, rain or shine, in summer or in winter.

How to prepare a traditional Yerba Mate

If you are new to Yerba Mate, or simply "Mate", keep three things in mind; one, it’s an acquired taste but if you commit to drink it on at least three occasions you’ll easily become accustomed to the comforting taste; two, the warmer the water and the longer you let it sit before you drink it, the more bitter the taste will be; and three, after the yerba has soaked for 30 seconds or so, insert the bombilla by placing your thumb on the top of the bombilla. This will trap the air and keep the yerba from getting through the strainer. If a little comes through the strainer the first few sips, just spit it out and keep sipping.

Yerba Mate ‘con palo’ or ‘with stem’ is not as bitter as a ‘pure leaf’ blend. If you really want to ease yourself into drinking mate, try the Taragui Hierbas del Litoral blend, which contains some softer and more flavorful herbs.

To prepare the Yerba Mate infusion, place the dried minced leaves of Yerba Mate inside the Mate cup, and moisten with cool water - let that sit for a minute or so. Next add hot water, below boiling (approx. 70 C) this is called "cebar el Mate". The infusion is sucked through a metal pipe called a "bombilla," which has a strainer at its lower end to prevent the minced leaves from reaching the mouth. There are as many different techniques to prepare Mate as there are Mate drinkers, here is a fairly traditional method:

• Fill the Mate cup with Yerba Mate 1/2 to 3/4 (the more yerba the stronger) of its capacity. A variation that will give you more tea per infusion and a less potent taste is to fill the Mate cup only 1/4 way, or even a little less than that.
• Moisten the Yerba Mate with of lukewarm water – wait for a 30 seconds - 1 minute or so.
• Pour hot water in until it nearly fills the cup. Don't worry if some of the leaves remain dry, floating on the top. They will eventually absorb water in subsequent infusions. The hotter the water the stronger the brew. It’s best to ad warmer water after a few infusions.
• Let it stand a few seconds and replenish with hot water when the previous one is absorbed by the dry Mate leaves.
• When the water is not absorbed anymore, close the bombilla's "mouthpiece" with your thumb and insert it firmly into the Mate.
• Start over with a fresh Yerba Mate infusion the afternoon/next day etc.

Some people add sugar and/or some herbs (like mint, snipits of lime, for example). Some replace the water with milk and honey, especially for the children. You drink and replenish the Mate with hot water many times until the liquid comes out with almost no taste. The repetitive extraction with hot water seems to be an efficient way of extracting the beneficial properties of the herb.

Disfruta! Although the first taste will be an unusual flavor for newcomers, keep trying it until you find the right method and right Yerba Mate blend for you.

Mate Vocabulary

Curar

Cebar

Quemar

Lavar Yerba

Dar vuelta la Bombilla

Mate Tapado

Amargo

Cimarrón

Dulce

Cocido

Tereré

Con yuyos

En saquitos

Con leche

Mate sayings

¨        First Mate – del zonzo

¨        “gracias”

¨        Puentear – ronda

¨        Largo – ¿le estas enseñando a hablar?

¨        Del estribo

¨        Quedar rengo

¨        Calentar la pava y que otro se tome el mate.