- Joel Muñoz
- Apr 9
- 2 min read
Recipe for preparing a sweet mate
Sweet mate is prepared by adding sugar or sweetener to the yerba mate or water before preparing it. Fill the mate gourd 3/4 full with Taragüi Yerba Mate, shake it, and add the bombilla. You can sweeten the water for even sweetness or add a teaspoon of sugar or honey directly to the yerba mate. Add hot water (75-80°C) and enjoy a mate with a smoother, sweeter flavor.
Read the full article with a good mate in hand.
Among the many ways to drink mate (traditional Argentine mate, cold mate in the form of tereré, flavored mate, in tea bags, etc.), many people choose to soften the characteristic bitterness of mate by drinking it sweet. Sweet mate is usually prepared with a touch of sugar, although sweeteners such as honey, stevia, or mascabo can also be used. It's common for everyone to prepare sweet mate according to their tastes and preferences; you can experiment with several methods until you find the one you like best!
Step by step: how to prepare sweet mate
Heat water to between 75 and 80°C, and store it in a thermos to keep it piping hot.
As in the traditional recipe, fill the mate 3/4 full with yerba.
Cover the mouth of the mate with your hand and shake it gently to mix the ingredients. With the mate slightly tilted, insert the bombilla through the empty side.
There are two ways to sweeten mate: by adding sugar or sweetener to the water so that the sweetness is uniform throughout each mate drink; or by adding a teaspoon of sugar, honey, or sweetener to the yerba mate, on the bombilla side.
Slowly pour hot water down the side of the bombilla until a thin layer of foam forms on the surface. Let the yerba mate absorb this initial amount of water, then pour water over the bombilla again, filling it with yerba mate. Ready to enjoy!
Tips for preparing sweet mates
Something to keep in mind is that when drinking sweet mate, the flavor and characteristics of the yerba are not fully and naturally appreciated.
To give more flavor to sweet, or even unsweetened, mate, you can add fruit peels or herbs.
For sweet mate it is not necessary to use a wide-mouthed mate, it is customary to use a type of gourd mate called “poro” or “pera” (due to its shape).
According to mate sommelier Karla Johan Lorenzo, it's not advisable to drink sweet mate from a container that has been cured for bitter mate. Sweet mate should be cured with sugar, burning charcoal, used yerba mate, and boiling water.
In general, you should never sweeten the mate of someone who uses it to drink bitter mate, as the sweetness lingers for a long time. There's an important trade-off between those who prefer bitter and sweet.