Paraguay+Yerba+Mate

Yerba Mate Whether it’s settling in for breakfast or dining at a nice restaurant for dinner, Paraguayans as well as foreigners love the traditional Paraguayan drink, yerba mate. Unlike ordinary drinks, whose origins are vague or boring, the history of yerba mate has spread throughout Paraguay, South America, and is gaining popularity in America. The legend of yerba mate comes from the Guarani Native Americans and begins in the forests of Paraguay (Mi). The Guarani peoples had settled in these woods and were excited for the coming of Pa’i Shume, a tall bearded God (Mi). Pa’i Shume brought “religious knowledge” and showed the Guarani agricultural benefits for times of drought as well as for an ordinary day (Mi). He also helped the Guarani discover medicine and health secrets. One of these discoveries included how to harvest “the leaves of the yerba mate tree” (Mi). The drink created from these leaves would guarantee “health, vitality, and longevity” (Mi). About every five years, the Guarani tribe would have to move as a result of overusing the soil. An old man became weary of moving so often and refused to move when the time came. Jary, the youngest and prettiest of the old man’s daughters, chose to stay with her father, not wanting to leave him isolated; however, she wanted to leave with the rest of the Guarani. A few days later, an unfamiliar shaman came to Jary and asked what she desired to make her happy again. Because Jary would not answer, the old man replied, “I want new forces to go on and take Jary to the tribe that went away” (Mi). As a result of the old man’s kindness, the shaman awarded him with a green plant and told him to “plant it, pick the leaves, dry them on fire, grind them, put the pieces in a gourd, and add cold or hot water and sip the infusion” (Mi). Before the shaman vanished, he told the old man that this drink would give him “healthy company, even in the sad hours of the cruelest solitude” (Mi). This plant soon became known as yerba mate. After drinking the green tea, the old man grew strength and could continue on the move with the tribe. Soon enough, the whole tribe began drinking the yerba mate because it gave them courage and strength (Mi). Today, as was back then, yerba mate is the most used ingredient in homemade medicines of the Guarani tribe. Today yerba mate, also known as mate, is consumed every day by Paraguayan’s. While Paraguayan’s make and devour this tea daily, others may wonder what exactly is this herb, how is it made, and what does it taste like? Obviously, yerba mate is a tea like drink, mainly consumed in Paraguay. It is created by brewing the dry leaves and stems “of the perennial tree” also referred to as the yerba mate tree (Mi). In a garden, this plant needs “high temperatures, high humidity, and up to one thousand-five hundred millimeters of annual rain” (Mi). The astonishing average of mate produced each year is about three hundred thousand tons (Mi). While it takes a short period of time to grow mate in a garden, in the wild it takes nearly twenty-five years to entirely grow, possibly growing up to 15 meters high (Mi). Unlike the leaves of a regular tree, yerba mate “leaves are alternated, cuneiform, elliptical or oval, with the border slightly serrated” (Mi). Between October and December when most trees fade away in the U.S., the mate tree’s small flowers bloom. Because several Paraguayan’s and foreigners drink yerba mate frequently, the taste is obviously delicious. This scrumptious tea is described as “somewhat sweet, bitter, withered leaf-like” and of course, tea-like (Mi). While this tea is taken regularly due to its delicious taste, it is also used as medicine to help relieve pain in the nervous system or in “a diuretic or an antirheumatic” (Mi). The amazing history, creation, and taste of this tea will continue to amaze foreigners as well as future Paraguayan generations.

Home