Mate

[Romanticar]

There is a drink that is a constant part of Che's life (those who have read his diaries have surely heard of it) called "mate". I suppose it's kind of tea which is beeing drinked in Latin America so I would like to ask the people on this forum who live(d) there if they tried it and if they know the receipt? Maybe for some it would sound stupid but who knows, maybe the mate is the key of new and quality revolutionary ideas. :D

[Guerrilla22]

Their was or still is, I'm not sure a "Che Mate" brand of herbal mate avaible in Latin America.

[nezvanova]

i tried a brand that they sell here in Canada, but it was nothing impressive. I'm sure real mate is great, the stuff i got tasted like really weak, fruitty chai.

[Ortega]

Did someone say Mate??

I'm absolutely addicted to it. I'm sitting here with a steaming mug of it right now.

I'd say that it's probably an acquired taste - it's sort of grown on me - but at the moment it's delicious. It tastes very strong and... leafy. Sort of like the boiled leaves of any given plant might taste.

And it (weirdly enough) gives you a great high if it's the right kind. I've read somewhere that Mate has it's own special chemical (Mateine, apparently) that in the past has been mistaken for caffiene but instead is a completely different compound with completely different (and stronger) effects. I believe it!

[fernando]

MATE COCA!!! Yah I drank that like crazy when I was in Peru. It's tea from coca leaves

[Ortega]

Mate Coca is different, I think. Mate means "tea" in Spanish, so there are many different types of Mates. The kind that I've been talking about, Che's favorite, is Yerba Mate.

By the way, here's a great brand (my favorite) and a fairly cheap place to buy it if you're interested: https://www.yerbamate.cc/Merchant2/merchant...uct_Code=1040SA (https://www.yerbamate.cc/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AY&Product_Code=1040SA).

[DaCuBaN]

Only online source I could find for the UK was http://www.detoxyourworld.com/products/teas_herbs/mate/

But you can generally find a shop selling it in most cities.

[Romanticar]

To bad that that kind of mate doesn't exist here in Europe, otherwise I would surely try it. ;)

[chebol]

Aaaaah, maté. Donde's mi boquilla?

Maté is the dried leaf of the Ilex paraguayense tree (a member of the holly family), native to the southern cone of South America. The drink was traditionally used by the Guaraní indians of Paraguay (and thereabouts- the same people from whom the name 'guarana' comes). It is drunk morer commonly than coffee in the southern cone countries. In Argentina, the army serves you a plunger full of maté with milk and sugar every morning, but this is not the traditional way of using it.
The proper way of having it is in a hollowed-out gourd ('maté' or 'boquilla') that grows on a tree in S. America, although wooden 'boquillas' are available. It is drunk through a metal, filtered straw called a 'bombilla' (which means 'lightbulb' in Peru, much to my travelling companions' amusement). The 'yerba' is put in first, and then the bombilla (there is more to it than this, but it is easier to describe in action than words- find an argentine, chilean or uruguayan- they'll be all too pleased to show you), then the hot water. The water is sucked out, and the maté refilled with water. (Continue until flavour is gone).
In uruguay, it is not uncommon to see people on the beach sipping maté, or people in suits going to work with a maté in hand and a hot-water thermos under-arm. In chile, some like to add white liquor first, making a killer drink. Others add sugar, honey or other herbs to "improve' the taste- I think it just ruins a good session.
The principle active ingredient is "mateine", which is in effect an isomer of caffeine, with slightly better and different effects, but maté contains upwards of 30 other xanthines, and is high in minerals and water-soluble protein (almost impossible to find in the plant kingdom).

Maté de coca is a tea made from the leaf of the coca plant (Erythroxylon coca or E. novogranatense), and contains cocaine, making it illegal in most countries. Some people get excited about this, but I think it tastes boring. Give me my maté anytime, talking of which- it's about time for one.

Oh, and if you're at the ecuadorean border at 5:30 am, the bombilla is a useful way to convince the guards that just because you have a three month beard and have been in certain parts of the jungle doesn't mean you're a guerrilla (you might just be an argentine, or a very strange gringo) ;)

[Romanticar]

Great explanation, thanks! ;)

[guevara-marley]

i'm not from latin america but i've tried mate many times...it tastes better than anything else i think..i'm kind of addicted to it...hmm..i really like it very much...in austria you could find it hardly but my cousin brought some maté with her...

[Danton]

Yeah man I've got a gourd and bombilla and everything, I got a pure roasted mate - no tea bags.. You have to cure the gourd overnight I got the shit down in Covent garden, London.. I'm loving it

[Comrade Latino]

To bad that that kind of mate doesn't exist here in Europe, otherwise I would surely try it.
But they do sell mate in Europe, at least Spain. Anyway, it is made out of the leaves of a plant that grows in the southern part of south america and it tastes really good. There are differences though. In Argentina and Uruguay they drink mate with hot water while in Paraguay (we call it Terere) we drink it with cold water(Because of the hot weather I guess)

[chebol]

Look out!! Here come the paraguayans!!! (That is- my maté is getting chunky and bland)
:D
I was forced to drink cold maté on a bus in Ecuador because someone had stolen my thermos- tasted OK, but I've always been told that Maté frio gives you the runs (must have something against the old Paraguayans, eh?). :P

[Latin American Socialist]

I went to peru and tried Mate Coca, it gives you energy because coca is the leaf that makes cocaine. And no, Mate isn't "tea" in spanish. Actually, Mate means Kill.

[Hate Is Art]

isn't it Maté?

[Latin American Socialist]

yea

If anybody doesn't know how pronounce, then read this: Ma-teh (Spanish)
Ma-tay (english)

[Socialsmo o Muerte]

I've been drinking it since I started reading Che (about 2 years; jumping on a Che bandwagon I know, but what the hell!) and it is definately an acquired taste as someone pointed out.

My whole family can't stand the smell or constant tea leaves everywhere.

If it is worth anything to anyone, I get mine from a Fairtrade comapny in Nottingham called Mullberries. It is Argentine however not from the Guevara's Misiones plantation unfortunately!

And I started drinking it with the assistance of a tea filter ball however decided to invest in the traditional Latin American drinking apparatus that we see in so many images of Che. And it tastes so much better from it.

While I'm on the subject, do any of the more seasoned drinkers have any tips to possibly make my Mate taste even nicer?

I also recently found out how helpful it is as well as just being a nice drink. Upon starting night shifts through the summer to fund my next year of Uni, I took my Mate, gourd and bombilla into work to drink and the intense caffeine keeps me ticking for hours! Much better than coffee. So all of you who use coffee for that kick up the arse, you should definately invest in some Mate. I wouldn't have been awake in half of my A Level classes over the last 2 years without it!

[Gen Arkan]

i went to my local health shop yesterday and bought 200g of mate for £1.75 its soo nice but yerba mate for 100g is around £9 so i left that for another time. Its very similair to tea in my opinion yet far more refreshing.

Thanks Arkan

[Socialsmo o Muerte]

Yerba Mate..Mate....

Same thing is it not? I use the word Mate to just save time instead of saying yerba mate.

I was under the impression the word "yerba" was just something from the name of the herb. AAAAh, this is confusing me. Anyway, the stuff I drink has always been yerba mate from Argentina. I didn't think there was a different drink called just "Mate".

[Gen Arkan]

mate i am informed means something like "grass" in spainish, so yerba mate is a different type for instance its like saying "tea" and "Herbal tea"

[Socialsmo o Muerte]

I thought it was just a name. Not a description.

[RAGE:C]

Hi at all,

just another question. Didnt want to open a new thread for it, so i thought i will ask it here...

Does someone know which cigars Che and Fidel smoke/d?

[Socialsmo o Muerte]

Probably Habanas.

Can't get them here though. And I don't think you can in the States.

[chebol]

When he wasn't smoking the dirtiest, cheapest, filthiest ones around (which was most of the time), Che was partial to a Montecristo No. 4.

(And for those wannabes out there- don't go off and start smoking cigars to look like Che- smoking kills, which is why Fidel gave up over 20 years ago)
:P

[Pasionaria]

:P
Mate means "tea" in Spanish

Mate isn´t "tea" in Spanish.Tea in Spanish is "Té".