- Joel Muñoz
- Apr 9
- 7 min read
Where does yerba mate come from? Is it Argentine, Uruguayan, Paraguayan, or Brazilian?
Mate has its roots in the Guaraní culture, which consumed the leaves of the Ilex paraguariensis plant in the Paraná rainforest region, spanning Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. This indigenous group discovered the energetic and nutritional benefits of mate, passing on its use and preparation to future generations. Over time, mate became established as an essential beverage in South America… read the full article
The benefits of yerba mate were discovered 3,000 BC; but its growing popularity has been strengthened throughout history by its countless properties and cultural significance.
Mate is the favorite infusion in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and some regions of Brazil. Due to its unique preparation and sharing style, this beverage is even considered a cultural heritage in those countries. Thanks to its countless properties, it has gradually crossed borders to other continents and earned a place on the list of the world's best beverages. But to understand its growing significance and importance, it is necessary to first understand its history and origins.
First of all, what is mate?
Mate, or yerba mate infusion, is prepared from the leaves of the Ilex paraguariensis tree. It is a natural beverage native to South America and is consumed in a special way, in a gourd-shaped container with a metal tube called a "bombilla."
Furthermore, yerba mate is considered a superfood due to its high nutritional value and numerous beneficial properties for the health of the body and mind. Mate is a source of vitamins, essential amino acids, minerals, and antioxidants (more than green tea). Due to its caffeine content, it stimulates the central nervous system, providing more energy and concentration. As if that weren't enough, it boosts metabolism, improves physical performance, and is associated with the prevention of some diseases. Learn more in our complete list of yerba mate benefits.
The Guarani herb
According to the book "Caá Porã: The Spirit of Yerba Mate," published by the Las Marías Establishment, the discovery of yerba mate can be attributed to the Kaingang ethnic group around 3,000 BC. They consumed the Ilex Paraguariensis, or yerba mate tree, native to the Paraná rainforest in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.
However, it was the Guaraní (native indigenous people living in some South American countries) who dedicated themselves to exploiting the benefits of yerba mate and perfected the methods of harvesting and preparing it, as well as the way to drink it: placing the leaves in a gourd with water and sipping the liquid through straws made of sugarcane. They also knew the nutritional value of Ilex Paraguariensis, and it is believed that they sometimes chewed its leaves directly. In fact, the word “mate” comes from the Guaraní “Caa-mate”: “Caá” would be plant or herb, and “mate” refers to the gourd where they drank it.
The Guaraní even have a legend about yerba mate, which tells the story of when their ancestors were visited by the god Pa'i Shume, who taught them how to harvest and prepare tea from the leaves of the Yerba Mate tree. "The greenest of all plants," it would bring them health, vitality, and a long life. According to legend, this knowledge was passed on by a mysterious shaman to the tribe where Jary and his ailing father were staying; upon receiving the brew, Jary found renewed strength and vigor to continue the path of his people.
For this reason, in addition to appreciating the nutritional benefits of yerba mate, they venerated it as a sacred gift from the gods with a special, spiritual significance. They worshipped it and believed that by drinking mate, they were imbibing the power of the forest. Thanks to all the value the Guaraní attributed to the yerba, It became a currency of exchange with other pre-Hispanic peoples: Incas, Charrúas, Araucanians and Pampas, who eventually adopted mate into their own cultures.
Popularity in the colonial era
When the Spanish colonized South America, they learned the uses and benefits of mate from the Guaraní, and it soon gained great popularity among the colonizers. The herb quickly began to be transported from its place of origin to the entire territory under Spanish rule.
It was primarily the Jesuit missionaries who were responsible for spreading the consumption of mate to an extraordinary extent. They recognized the enormous economic potential that its commercialization would have and set out to investigate why the yerba mate plant germinated only in this region of the world, thus discovering that the secret to its cultivation was the seeds pre-digested by toucans (a discovery that was confirmed half a century later by the French naturalist Aimé Bonpland).
The Spanish Jesuits were pioneers in cultivating, transporting, and marketing mate, although they preferred to drink mate from tea bags rather than with straws like the Guaraní. Hence, at one point, yerba mate became known as "Jesuit tea."
The gaucho and his love for mate
Gauchos (a type of cowboy) settled throughout Argentina, as well as Uruguay, Paraguay, southern Brazil, Chile, and even Bolivia. They were known for their independent, rural, and pseudo-nomadic nature. These skilled horsemen inhabited the lands not used for settlements or cities, hunting wild cattle introduced by the Spanish and Portuguese colonizers to the plains. Gauchos were the pioneers in preparing the traditional asado (barbecue), which today represents one of the most deeply rooted traditions in countries like Uruguay and Argentina.
Through their contact and coexistence with the native inhabitants, the gauchos adopted mate as part of their idiosyncrasy, along with the asado (barbecue), horseback riding, and their typical leather clothing. They drank hot mate in groups, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bed. Drinking mate became a gaucho tradition that still endures: cowboys would gather to socialize with other gauchos, and it was common to find water heating on the stoves alongside roast beef, and a mate was passed around from hand to hand.
During Argentina's long process of independence in the 19th century, the custom of drinking mate became entrenched in national folklore.
Yerba mate conquers South America
Although the yerba mate industry originates among the Guaraní people, indigenous to the Paraná Forest, where the yerba mate plant grows naturally, its consumption spread throughout South America during the Spanish Empire, leading to a boom in the yerba mate industry throughout the Río de la Plata region.
By the end of the 16th century, the Spanish were already widely consuming yerba mate and promoted the yerba mate industry in Paraguay, making it the main center of production until territorial conflicts led to the spread of mate to many colonial cities in South America. With the fall of Paraguay in the War of the Triple Alliance, the Paraguayan region of Mato Grosso do Sul became part of Brazil, and at the end of the 19th century, yerba mate plantations began to develop there, making Brazil the main producer.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the first industrial plantations were established in Argentina, in the southern ports of Rosario and Buenos Aires. However, Argentina had to import yerba mate from Brazil and Paraguay via the Paraná River to satisfy domestic consumption until the French-Argentine landscaper Carlos Thays successfully developed a seed germination system. This is how the Argentine yerba mate industry began, consolidating the country as the largest yerba mate producer in the world.
In Uruguay, ancient yerba mate plantations and drying areas belonging to the Guaraní people have been discovered in the Sierras de Rocha. However, although several reports indicate that this country has the highest per capita consumption in the world, Uruguay does not currently have industrial-scale production due to market, flavor, and climate reasons. However, several campaigns are currently underway to promote the domestic cultivation of yerba mate.
Yerba mate today
Yerba mate is grown in Argentina, Paraguay, and southern Brazil, where the soil, temperature, and humidity conditions are ideal. Although countless attempts have been made to cultivate and produce yerba mate in other regions of North America, Asia, and Africa, Ilex paraguariensis refuses to grow outside the lands of the native Guaraní people.
In Argentina, mate is the most consumed beverage after water, regardless of gender, age, or social class. According to the National Yerba Mate Institute, an average of 100 liters of mate is consumed per person per year in the country. The custom of mate is present in more than 90% of Argentine homes. There is a wide variety of brands on the market, with the leader being Las Marías (with its main brand, Taragüi), which is also the only one that exports to 40 countries around the world.
Although Argentina is the largest producer and exporter of yerba mate, accounting for 54% of the global market, mate is currently gaining increasing popularity beyond Latin America. Today, it's possible to enjoy the properties of this natural infusion far beyond the continent: you can order yerba mate online and have it delivered throughout Europe and the United States. There are even a variety of traditional and innovative yerba mate-based products.
Furthermore, drinking mate is a cultural issue, part of the lifestyle of producing countries. In Argentina, mate is usually drunk in group sessions as part of a social ritual; in Uruguay, it's mostly consumed individually. However, a thermos and yerba mate are essential at any time and in any place. From the Guaraní to millennials, the essential and irreplaceable meaning of drinking mate remains as relevant—or more relevant—than ever for South Americans; and this goes far beyond its function as a stimulating beverage.
Yerba mate is undoubtedly one of the most surprising and pleasurable discoveries that the South American continent has offered the world, and more and more benefits are being discovered to add to this extensive list.
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