What is "La Yerba Mate"

Question

I read the phrase Yerba Mate and I have a feeling it is has a cultural connotation but i can't figure out what it means. Help? Gracias!

I drink it every day.: ) - Ranman, Nov 23, 2013

Answer 1

Mate de coca

It is medicinal - altitude sickness - pain relief - fights hunger pains and exhaustion etc.

That ain't yerba mate! - afowen, Nov 23, 2013

Answer 2

Hi there!

Yerba = Hierba = herb.

Yerba mate (Spanish: [??e??a ?mate]; from the Spanish: yerba mate, Portuguese: erva-mate [???v? ?mat?i], is sometimes spelled in English as maté. Yerba mate's binomial name is Ilex paraguariensis and is a species of the holly (family Aquifoliaceae).

It is well known as the source of the beverage called mate, traditionally consumed in subtropical South America, particularly northeastern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.1 It was first used and cultivated by the Guaraní people, and also in some Tupí communities in southern Brazil, prior to the European colonization. It was scientifically classified by the Swiss botanist Moses Bertoni, who settled in Paraguay in 1895.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate

thank you! I saw that before but in the context i was reading, it didn't seem right. - PriyankaaBhatia, Nov 23, 2013

You answered before I could amigo. :) - ian-hill, Nov 23, 2013

:) - RelaxingCup, Nov 23, 2013

Answer 3

People drink this all over Central and South America as a tea/coffee type drink. As you can see in the picture, the cups and straws that they drink this from are special mate cups and can be quite ornate. The "straw" has little holes in it at the bottom - it almost looks like a spoon. It filters the herbs from the drink.

:) - ian-hill, Nov 23, 2013

Answer 4

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