Mate: Argentina in a Cup

Me pouring sugar in a cup of mate.

For starters, it is pronounced "mah-tay," not "mayte," as the Australians like to say. Mate is a staple of Argentine life. To drink mate, you need a mate cup, metal straw, mate herbs, hot water, and (optional) sugar or sweetener. You pack the mate herbs in the cup and pour steaming water over the leaves, add sugar if you prefer it not to be bitter, and sip sip. The taste is comparable to an herby tea, but you have to try it to really know. You can drink mate alone, but most people drink it with company. Here is an image my host mom took of me on my first day here. I was drinking mate within my first 3 hours in Argentina!

Everyone drinks from the same straw so this is the part where Howie Mandel says hailllll no. You keep passing the cup back and forth, or around the circle, until the mate loses its flavor and the leaves begin to float in the water. There are a few rules of mate...

1. Do NOT move the straw around. If you do, your Argentine friend should smack your hand. 2. You do not pass the mate cup to the next person until you've finished the entire drink. 3. Do not take too long to drink it. Sip sip it all up and then pass it the next person. Mate serves a pretty big social function, which is cool. People love to take mate kits to the park on a nice day and sit with their friends and drink mate. It's also great to gossip over a nice cup of mate. I guess it's a great way to spread mono to an enemy as well...