The justification for spending a year in Argentina is yerba mate – the research project for my new book. I published a short article (“The Many Meanings of Yerba Mate”) in ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America. Yerba mate is a caffeinated beverage that is drunk widely in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Southern Brazil. As I wrote in the article, “Drinking yerba mate is a communal activity. One person in the group (the server) pours some hot water (or cold water for tereré) into the guampa or mate (cup for the mate) and passes it to a companion who dutifully sucks all of the liquid from the shared straw and returns the guampa. The server then refills the guampa with water and passes it to another person in the group. Conversation flows as the process repeats itself until the yerba mate loses its flavor—about thirty minutes.” I first learned about the drink when John and I were serving as Peace Corps volunteers in Curuguaty, Paraguay. | |
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Yerba mate can be found in various places in Phoenix. Yerba mate can often found at places that serve tea and Guayakí teabags, loose-leaf, and iced tea are readily found at many supermarkets. Even Trader Joe’s sells their own brand of yerba mate teabags! One can also find loose-leaf yerba mate sold by South American companies. The first place where I found yerba mate (Cruz Malta brand) in the valley was at Haji Baba in Tempe – a Middle Eastern restaurant and supermarket. Surprisingly, a significant amount of yerba mate is exported to the Middle East. The best variety of yerba mate brands can be found at Tienda Latina (1811 N 24th St, Phoenix, AZ 85008). One time I counted about 35 different packages of yerba mate. Many of our friends and acquaintances have expressed curiosity about yerba mate. Brooke and her parents were one of the few to actually try the beverage. We sent them home with a guampa/mate, bombilla, and loose-leaf yerba mate. They said that they were going to take it with them to Burning Man.
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