Preparing Mate'

Mate is prepared by steeping dried leaves in hot water.Treating the mate' with cool water before the addition of hot water is essential, as it protects the herb from being scalded and from the chemical breakdown of some of its desirable nutrients. Hot water may then be added.

Mate is served with a metal straw from a shared hollow calabash gourd. The straw is called a bombilla in Latin American Spanish, a bomba in Portuguese, and a masassa in Arabic. The straw is traditionally made of silver. Modern commercially available straws are typically made of nickel silver, called Alpaca, stainless steel, or hollow-stemmed cane. The gourd is known as a mate or a guampa, while in Brazil it has the specific name of Chimarrão or cuia. Even if the water comes in a very modern thermos, the infusion is traditionally drunk from mates or cuias. However, "tea-bag" type infusions of mate (mate cocido) have been on the market in Argentina for many years.