My First Encounter With Mate
When I first went to Argentina at the end of 2018, my tía asked me: "Do you want to drink mate?" I was caught off guard, as I had never heard that word before. After some hesitation, I agreed, and a few moments later, she appeared with a typical gourd filled with herbs and a metal straw. I asked myself: "Is this even legal?" What I later found out during the trip was that mates come in all different shapes and sizes. The one you see in the picture is one of the biggest styles out there!
With some laughter, my aunt told me to try it. And when I did... let's just say my first impression wasn't great. The taste was way too strong for me. But I kept an open mind, because what I didn't know yet was what was actually in that gourd.
What's Actually in That Gourd?
Yerba Mate is naturally rich in stimulating compounds. It contains caffeine at levels similar to a cup of coffee, around 80 mg per serving, but also theobromine (the compound found in chocolate) and small amounts of theophylline. This combination is part of what makes it unique. The traditional way of drinking it, where you keep adding hot water to the same gourd, can bring your total caffeine intake to over 260 mg in a single session. And yet, regular drinkers consistently report feeling energized without the jitteriness that coffee sometimes causes. Many attribute this to the interplay between those three compounds, which together seem to produce a smoother, more sustained lift than caffeine alone.
Where Does Yerba Mate Come From?
The name itself comes from two languages, Spanish and Quechua, and translates roughly to "herb from the calabash," a nod to the dried gourd it's traditionally brewed in. The Guaraní people of South America were the first to use it, long before European contact. In the 16th century, the Jesuits began cultivating and trading the leaves commercially, though the art of proper cultivation was largely lost and only recovered in the mid 20th century. Today, mate is consumed across South America and, perhaps surprisingly, is hugely popular in the Middle East, with Syria being one of the world's largest importers.
How Materos Unidos Was Born 🧉
After returning home, I found myself missing it. I could only track it down through a handful of online sources, usually at a premium. But I kept buying it, kept drinking it, and eventually became what you'd call a matero, someone who doesn't just drink mate but shares it. That habit of passing the gourd around, introducing friends and acquaintances to it, is what eventually led me to start Materos Unidos, a brand built on the idea that mate is meant to be shared.
P.S. If you found this article helpful, you might also want to check out our store for premium yerba mate, insulated flasks, bombillas, and more!
Sources
Gawron-Gzella A, Chanaj-Kaczmarek J, Cielecka-Piontek J. Yerba Mate: A Long but Current History. Nutrients, 2021. Read the review