Yerba Mate, the gaucho’s secret elixir!
Yerba Mate, the gaucho’s secret elixir! This is what keeps those Argentinian cowboys going from dawn till dusk out on the pampas. It is also hailed for its slimming properties, which could explain why there is no paunch under the gaucho’s poncho…
A Powerful Stimulant
It contains a stimulant scientists have called ‘matteine’. This is presumably with more than a nod towards its distant cousin caffeine, although it is believed to be several times more stimulating. I can attest to this in anecdotal form. The first time I tried it, it popped and sparkled in my mouth, like confectioner’s space dust or a reined in version of popping candy.
A Communal Event
When Yerba Maté is taken in its native land of Argentina it is much more of a communal activity than our Afternoon Tea. This is partly due to the mechanics of drinking it. The brew is kept in its Maté, which is a dried out gourd. This is then passed around the group for its contents to be imbibed through a straw, or ‘bombilla’. Each drinker has their own individual design of bombilla, usually elaborated in beautifully engraved silver. This clever device has its filter system in the straw enabling the leaves to be left in the gourd while the solution is drawn up through it. As time wears on the brew can be re-infused many times, just like green tea.
It is a very solitary experience, however for the exiled Argentinian to drink Yerba Mate all alone in a far off land…
