Yer·ba Ma·te

A traditional South American infusion, earthy and grassy, often shared communally through a shared gourd and straw.

Yerba mate is brewed from the dried leaves of Ilex paraguariensis, a holly relative native to South America. It's central to daily life across Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and southern Brazil, where it's traditionally drunk from a hollowed gourd (also called a mate) through a metal straw called a bombilla.

The ritual is as important as the drink itself: a group will often pass a single gourd around, refilling it with hot water between turns rather than each person brewing their own cup.