Visiting Southern Brazil | Yerba-Mate | What is it, How to prepare & Benefits
Hoooray Readers! How are you? Travelling around South America? You should learn about Mate.
I've posted on some of my stories how south american people drink Mate; it appeared in one of my pictures, of when I explored some abandoned mines. I also wrote about the insane amounts of Mate I drunk when I hitch-hiked 1800 km on a truck.
But what the heck is Mate? You may be asking.
Well, this has been asked by my friend @themagus on my text about Porto Alegre, I'm glad he's read the text carefully enough to notice and ask what that is. If you'd like to know a bit about Porto Alegre you can check it down bellow.
Road Trip Serie (Part I) - Visiting Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil
Now let's get back to Mate.
Nothing beats this three.
What is Mate?
Mate or Chimarrão is typical of South American culture, the habit of taking the chimarrão was inherited from indigenous people, such as Guaranis, Quechua and Aymara. In Brazil, although it is also widely consumed in Paraná and Santa Catarina, it is notably known as a gaucho costume, from Rio Grande do Sul (my beautiful state)
The herb comes from the plant Ilex paraguariensis, which develops naturally in southern Brazil, northern Argentina and eastern Paraguay. It can be used to prepare different drinks, such as: mate or chimarrão, tererê and herbal tea. Even though it can be prepared in different ways, the one I refer to is the chimarrão, where it's prepared using some special utensils, I'll show you.
Properties and Benefits
It has caffeine, theophylline, theobromine, folic acids, tannins, minerals and vitamins A, B1, B2, C and E, and therefore acts as anti-oxidant, diuretic, mild laxative, stimulant and aphrodisiac.
It is useful for losing weight, fighting bad cholesterol and raising good cholesterol (HDL), lowering blood glucose, quenching hunger, stimulating brain function, improving blood circulation, facilitating digestion, cleansing the skin and is beneficial for the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
Excessive consumption can cause irritability, insomnia, gastritis, caused by the presence of caffeine. Other than that, excessively hot water can cause some types of cancer, but that's the water's fault.
Besides all the fancy words listed above, Mate is a great drink for convivence, as it's mainly shared with friends or family while enjoying each other and having a conversation. It's also great for healing a hangover or to help concentration while studying.
How to Prepare
Super simple, you'll need the herb (erva-mate; yerba-mate), cúia, bomba and hot water. All the items to prepare a good chimarrão/mate you can generally find at supermarkets in Rio Grande do Sul.
Cúia
Erva-Mate (herb)
Hot water
Bomba (special straw)
Then you'll then need to follow steps 5 and 6.
- While the water is boiling put the erva-mate inside the cúia, don't fill it completely, a little more than half should do the trick.
- Cover the cúia with your hand and shake it a bit so the erva-mate goes to one side, as in picture 5, let it there like that.
- Once the water is hot you'll add it into the space, just like in picture 6. You'll have erva (herb) to one side and to the botton and water holding it together, just like a 'lake'. Leave it like that so the herb will start absorbing water until it's firm. Once you see that it's soaked and firm you can fill it again with water.
- Now put your thumb over the bomba (straw) and insert it into the cúia. Just like you do with a milk-shake.
- Voila, it's ready to drink.
Water in the hole!
Place erva-mate to the side.
It should look like this. This is an image so you see that it's me working. Yes, it's late at night. Yes, it's cold. Yes, I'm working from my bed.
Working from bed today.
Since my cellphone camera has the quality of a potato and the potato user (me) is terrible at explaining things, I'll link an animation down bellow. The animation is in portuguese but it's pretty straight forward, that plus my amazing explanation should do the trick.
Curious to know how it tastes? Be my guest in southern Brazil. Feel free to ask any question on the comments down below.
If you liked this post, please, consider leaving your upvote for a hot coffee.
~Love ya all,
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broken backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.
I'm Arthur. I blog about Adventure Stories, Brazil, Travel, Camping & Life Experiences.
Follow me to stay tuned for more craziness and tips.
You may also want to read:
Epic Quote Challenge | Share Your Quote/Book and Win SBD
Photo Series #68: Street Art | Photography | Colourful Photo
Road Trip Serie (Part I) - Visiting Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil
Mighty Steem Explorer Game! Discover the Location & Win the SBD
Monday Morning Quote: "The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure"
A proud member of the Steemit Travellers community:
Great post as usual. One day you will have to make me mate and we will make you vegemite tea. Xxx
Ohhh yeah, it's a deal @riverflows! I'll sure bring some packages of Mate to Australia, it's always fun to fly with packages of Mate cause they don't know wtf that is, always need to explain over and over, sometimes even prepare a Mate to show them it's not a bomb. hahahahaha
Ahaha... we are fairly used to travellers here so I am sure they have encountered strange Brazilians carrying mate bombs before. Btw we don't really have vegemite tea 💙😉
Posted using Partiko Android
Mate bombs hahahahahahah
I have some gauchos friends there, gonna ask how they find mate in Australia
God bless you. https://steemit.com/@biblegateway
One of the three best things on planet Earth. The other two are women and wineberries.
hahahaha thank you for the comment @wildlocusthoney!
so you are a true Mate lover? How do you find it in your place?
I am! A friend introduced me about 12 years ago and it was love at first sip. In Argentina I became a fan of "Cruz de Malta" brand, and was so happy to find it again at the FoodMaxx store here in VA.
Yeah the argentinean brands tend to be stronger than ours in Brazil, both are good though. So, you find it on the supermarket there? how cool!
Thanks @mrprofessor, I saw people in Argentina drinking it when I was climbing Aconcagua, we got a short explanation then, but now your post provides all the background info, great, I've learnt a lot!
Hey @ultrabiker, thanks for the comment.
Awesome description, is there something you cant do? hahahahha
You have climbed Aconcagua? That's insane! I've thought about doing it too, until I discovered the amount of expensive equipment I'd need =s Maybe doing it the vintage way? Using whool clothes hahaha
Going to keep an eye on your content for now on, we share a lot of interests.
Ha, great.... I realize 'Climber' is not there, but that I only do it part time. We didn't reach the top of Aconcagua last time due to the weather, but we will hopefully try again this December. I will definitely try some Mate again, apart from the Malbec of course!!!
Ohhh yeah, the wines in Mendoza are famous. That's so cool, I'd like to go too, but I don't have the equipment and possibly not the physical condition for such a adventure.
I have seen it on TV, but people chew that fresh leaves when they climb altitude. Is that the same leaf?
Hi @haristourist, thanks for passing by man.
I'm afraid you are confusing Mate for the Coca leaves, another plant used in south america for a lot of beneficial uses including in altitude climbing. Also it's the same one used to make cocaine.
Great post, Arthur! I love the creative way you described how to prepare Mate :) I am addicted for a few years now to Masala tea, but maybe it's time to find a new addiction :D Not sure if I will found your herbs here...
Heeeey @best-trip-eva, thanks for the lovely comment!
yeah it's kinda tricky to find outside of South America indeed and sending through mail is always a pain, they never know what that green thing is hahaha
I love Mate for when I'm studying or working, it helps us to concentrate more, plus the sharing tradition of it, normally we drink one and the next we pass and so on until it closes the circle - normally it involves being with friends hanging around.
Okay, I just have to visit Brazil then I guess :) I mean there is no other choice, haha (: I have to sacrifice and travel again :)
AHAHH be my guest! I'll be travelling a good part of it by bicycle soon. Are you up the challenge? All I can offer is Mate.
Wow, nice hahah, I need the cúia and the Bomba for prepare a good Mate... Is the same if I drink it without them?.
The video at the end is so cool hahah and all your post deserved a 100!. Good job my friend♥
Heeey @sweetdreams, thanks so much for the lovely comment.
You could try it in a small mug, have you seen those in Argentina? as for the bomba I'm not sure. Aren't you sure you don't have those in Venezuela?
Here they are so cheap I could send you through mail hahaha
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
Awesome! Thank you a lot @c-squared, your support is amazing. Btw I should be more active on the Discord channel to learn how I can retribute back.
It is interesting to taste it. What is he? According to Your description it looks very exotic :) . I hope that someday I will get to Brazil and try it, heh
Heeeyho @madlenfox! It's kinda bitter, some people like to pour suggar on top. If you come to Brazil it'll be a pleasure to show you Mate!
Ahh btw, are you near the world cup games? Look around, if you see people from Argentina, sounthern Brazil or Uruguay they are more likely to be drinking Mate, just ask to taste it and they'll gladly serve you one.
Oh! That's a good clue, heh . We have the whole world on a visit. I'll let you know if I can try it!!!! But if not, I have to fly to Brazil. By the way , maybe it is prepared in a restaurant where there is a menu of Brazilian cuisine? I need to find out. :) (I liked the way this beverage container looks :) )
Hmmm if the restaurant is owned for someone who lives in southern Brazil it's quite possible, asking wouldn't hurt xD
Congratulations! Your high quality travel content caught our attention and earned you a reward, in form of an upvote and resteem. Your work really stands out. Your article now has a chance to get curated and featured under the appropriate daily topic of our Travelfeed blog. Thank you for using #travelfeed
20 SBD Up For Grabs in the TF Cup! - lean more about the contest here.
Oieee, lovely lovely. Thank you so much @travelfeed!
You are welcome!