Drinking mate is much easier than it seems. It is almost a fact that before getting into the mate culture, we’ve wondered, how to drink yerba mate? It’s not like coffee or tea which you drink all at once, but it’s an infusion that may last many hours. Before you drink it, it is necessary to prepare it in a few simple steps.
- Fill the mate cup with ¾ of yerba mate
- Add a little of warm water for the yerba mate to swell
- Let the mate rest for 5 minutes approximately
- Put the bombilla
- Enjoy
If you want to know the whole process, I strongly recommend you to visit our blog “how to prepare your mate correctly”. There you’ll find all the necessary tips to become an expert matero.
Ok, let’s move on. How to drink yerba mate?
How to drink yerba mate?
There are many ways of drinking yerba mate. Generally the options depends on the liquid you add to the mate cup, but also if you decide to add, for example, sugar. Cold water, juice and even milk are used to serve the mate. But in Uruguay we only drink mate with hot water, whose temperature goes between 167ºf and 194ºf. The most important thing is that, when you drink mate for the first time, you enjoy it so much that you won’t stop drinking it.
To drink mate it is necessary to have a thermo that lets you save the hot water. Without it, it’ll be impossible, apart from the yerba mate, the bombilla and obviously, the mate cup. Once the mate is ready, it’s time to serve the first one. When we add the water, we might pay special attention and try to let the “montañita” dry. If don’t, the mate may lose its original flavour really soon. Something you must know is that the first mate will be the most bitter one. But don’t worry! The second one will be better.
When the water is in the cup there’s nothing else to do than drink it. It’s important to know that you don’t have to drink it all at once, and it is desirable to let the mate empty of water. When you reach the final sound, it is because you already finished. When this happens, it’s time to give the mate back to the cebador, so he can keep drinking. The same happens every time.
When we are sharing the mate with more people, the cebador is just one and is who decides in which order the others drink. Once you don’t want more mate, remember to say “thanks you” to the cebador, so he knows.
What if I ran out of water but still want to drink mate?
Absolutely nothing! Heat more water and keep on drinking! At that point your mate may have lost all its flavour, so if you want, it’s time to renew some yerba mate. Take some of the used yerba mate and add approximately the same amount of new one. With this little change, your mate will be like a new one, recovering its original flavour.