🇺🇾 Uruguayan Cuisine

Mate

Uruguayan Yerba Mate Infusion

Prep Time 5 min
Servings 1
Difficulty Easy

A bitter, earthy herbal infusion of dried yerba mate leaves sipped through a metal bombilla from a shared gourd, refilled with hot water dozens of times in an unbroken social ritual.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1 Fill the mate gourd two-thirds full with yerba mate.
  2. 2 Tilt the gourd to one side so the yerba forms a slope. Rest it at an angle.
  3. 3 Pour a small amount of cool water into the empty side to moisten the base. Wait 30 seconds.
  4. 4 Insert the bombilla into the moistened side, pressing it to the bottom.
  5. 5 Pour hot water (70-80C) slowly into the space near the bombilla. Do not wet all the yerba.
  6. 6 Sip through the bombilla. Refill with hot water from thermos and pass to the next person.

Did You Know?

Uruguayans consume more mate per capita than any other country — it is common to see people walking through Montevideo streets carrying a thermos under one arm and a mate gourd in hand.