Today I decided that I would try Yerba Mate (pronounced yEr-bah mAH-te). Mate is made from pouring hot (not boiling) water over leaves of various herbs into a little bowl called a gourd and then you suck up the liquid through a metal straw,called a bombilla. The bombilla has a filter at the bottom to stop you from sucking up leaves and the occasional twig! It is a common site in Argentina to see a group of people where one is busy sucking on the bombilla while another carries a Thermos of water to top up the gourd. The gourd is shared amongst the group - as is the straw . Well, what does it taste like? ....... it is very much like a bitter green tea. It is rather refreshing, and so I am probably going to go out an buy my very own gourd and bombilla, and a bag of yerba mate.
