How do you travel with yerba mate?
Packing Tips
Traveling and yerba mate go together. Some people can’t go on a road trip without preparing yerba mate. Others need to ensure they take enough for their month long excursions around the world. And some just like to take mate with them to the park, school, work or anywhere else not too far, but far enough to put some thought into transporting, storing and cleaning up their mate. Below, I’ll offer some tips on making sure you always clear your precious yerba mate through customs and airport security while traveling.
I started selling gourds on Circle of Drink with 60 gourds I brought back to New York in my suitcase in 2012. I neatly lined the gourds, sandwiched between shirts and sweaters for padding. While going through New York Customs, this was the only time I’ve ever been questioned about traveling with gourds and yerba mate. The Agents simply wanted to know what the gourds were and why I had so many of them. “They’re yerba mate cups to drink tea from and I plan to share them with family and friends.”
What is Yerba Mate?
To help you out, we’ve compiled a yerba mate guide. What the yerba mate bush looks like:
Yerba Mate Argentina: This container is what Argentinians call Mate. This caffeine-rich infused drink is made from dried leaves called yerba mate mixed with hot water. Yerba mate leaves are dried chopped and ground into a powder drunk through a metal straw (traditionally silver) known in Argentina as a Bombilla.
I wanted to get one of the traditional vessels and learn to brew it properly. I had read that mate-drinking is a social experience quite different from the solitary way I drink it at home. I knew that people often drink it in groups, passing the drink from person to person around the table as they chat.
The ‘Ruta de la Yerba Mate’ is a tourist trail around the Argentinian provinces of Corrientes and Misiones; created to show everything related to one of the oldest Argentinean traditions: Yerba Mate. This trail includes an overview of its history and origins; access to facilities to witness the production process, mate plantations, harvesting, etc. The route also includes tasting and gastronomic activities with exclusive menus based on yerba mate.
In Argentina it’s normal for your boss to pass around a mate cup with employees at all levels. You’ll be included in rounds of communal yerba mate drinking when you travel to Argentina. Here are sharing rules:
- One person will act as the servidora and will be responsible for preparing the mate cup, filling it with water, and passing it around in the same order.
- One mate cup and bombilla straw will be used by everyone.
Health Benefits and Risks
The yerba is made from the leaves and twigs. Drinking yerba mate is common in South America as drinking coffee and tea elsewhere. It contains vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Yerba mate is steeped in water just off the boil. At sea level water boils at 212 degrees but drops about a degree per 100 feet altitude. The traditional way to drink yerba mate is from a gourd using a bombilla straw to filter out leaves. However, you can prepare mate in a regular cup using a spoon or strainer.
I’ve become a daily yerba mate drinker, providing me energy and focus. If you’re new to yerba mate, this article shares everything about how to drink it – from preparation to health benefits.
The best way to start is to have a veteran yerba mate drinker show you – like which gourd and bombilla to get, the best brand to start with, how to prepare it, and more. There’s lots I would’ve done differently to make my first (and future) experiences more pleasant.
Drinking large amounts of yerba mate for a long time increases some cancer risks. The bombilla allows you to control the mate flow.
Final Thoughts
To Argentinians, yerba maté is like coffee to Americans – a beloved, caffeine-rich national drink. It has alertness without jitters and is prepared similarly to matcha. But yerba maté has a character all its own.
Follow the centuries-old preparation style using a bombilla and maté. The basic principles remain the same, though the process can vary by culture.
Porteñas owners aim to change that by serving plenty of mate.
Indigenous Guaraní cultivated yerba mate in pre-Columbian Paraguay. But Americans are unlikely to sip the bitter, bracing wash of tannins.
Yerba mate is the traditional South American beverage. It’s made from leaves of a holly plant found in the rainforest. The Guayaki tribe has sipped yerba mate from gourds for energy.