- Joel Muñoz
- Apr 9
- 3 min read
Recipe for preparing a good tereré (cold mate)
Tereré is a refreshing version of traditional mate, perfect for hot days. To prepare it, fill the glass halfway with yerba mate, add cold water flavored with citrus fruits and ice, and let it steep before inserting the bombilla. You can add lemon slices or mint to enhance the flavor. This drink not only hydrates but also provides the nutritional benefits of yerba mate.
Mate is a rich, natural, and extremely healthy beverage thanks to its high nutritional value and properties, well known and utilized throughout history. Although its bitter, hot version is the most well-known, another great quality of mate is its versatility and variety. In fact, there are different ways to drink mate depending on the country, the climate, the location, and even each person's individual tastes.
Perfect for summer, the park, the beach (or simply for those who prefer a refreshing drink), there is a cold version of mate called tereré, made with cold water, ice, and fruit—really refreshing and refreshing!
What is tereré?
Tereré is simply the cold version of the yerba mate infusion. It originated in Paraguay, but the love for cold mate has also spread to other mate-drinking countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, and parts of Chile and Brazil.
It is said that the word tereré comes from the Guaraní people, who would make rounds of mate, sipping the drink to the end to hear the sound made by the last three sips through the bombilla: "te-re-re." However, other historians attribute this name to a derivation of the phrase "té jere," which in Guaraní means "round of tea," and which the Jesuit priests used to refer to the ceremony of sharing mate.
Step by step: how to prepare cold mate or tereré
1. Pour the yerba mate into the mate glass about halfway. It's recommended to use a flavored yerba mate with a fruity flavor, such as orange or a citrus mix.
2. Cover with the palm of your hand, invert the mate glass and shake gently to mix the ingredients well.
3. Prepare cold flavored water with lemon, grapefruit, or orange slices in a pitcher or thermos with plenty of ice.
4. Add the liquid from the pitcher or thermos to the mate. The first time you add the cold liquid, it should be a generous amount, soaking the entire yerba mate. Let it steep for a few minutes and then insert the bombilla into the inner wall of the mate, pressing down gently.
5. Add a few ice cubes and that's it! You can now enjoy the tereré by adding cold water or ice to each bean and drinking it straight from the straw.
Some tips for the best tereré
Tereré contains slightly more liquid than traditional mate. The liquid should slightly exceed the level of the yerba mate.
It is important not to move or rotate the bulb, so as not to ruin the condition of the components.
Tereré can be prepared in a ceramic, glass, or stainless steel vessel to keep it colder.
As with traditional hot mate, the yerba loses its initial flavor as the round progresses, so it should be replaced with new yerba when the characteristic flavor of the mate is no longer noticeable.
A very common way to prepare tereré is to squeeze a lemon into cold water, sweeten it, and add a touch of fresh mint. Some people prefer to use natural orange or grapefruit juice.
For a healthy and even therapeutic morning tereré, which can even be a good substitute for coffee, you can add herbs such as boldo, chamomile, or peppermint to the infusion. Anything that helps give more flavor to the cold mate and, above all, replenishes the nutrients, minerals, and vitamins lost through sweating on summer days is beneficial.
Whether in its traditional hot version or in the form of tereré to refresh and hydrate the body, you can take advantage of the many and varied benefits of mate at any time of year and time of day. And best of all, the privilege of sipping one of the world's best beverages is no longer exclusive to South America; more and more cities are joining the mate movement.