It produces small white four petal flowers with a hint of green and later red berries around 4â€“6 mm in diameter. Later the Jesuits began to cultivate it and spread its influenceĭescription: Yerba mate is a small evergreen shrub like plant.

The drink seemed to relieve their fatigue and produced a feeling of exhilaration. Even though they were not sitting around in tearooms with pastries and sipping from fine china as was customary in Europe, the resultant effect of drinking the herbal drink was what caught their attention. When the Spanish explorers came upon these Guarani in the early 16th century this drink intrigued them.

Habitat:Yerba mate got its humble beginnings with the Guarani Indians in the highlands of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Bartholomewâ€™s tea, Jesuitâ€™s tea, caminÃº, kali chaye Other Common Names for Yerba mate:Yerba matÃ©, matÃ©, erva mate, erveira, Paraguay cayi, Paraguay tea, South American holly, matÃ©teestrauch, St. The name comes from the Spanish word hierba which was changed to yerba in Argentina and means 'grass or herb,' and the word mati which was changed to mate and stands for 'cup or gourd.' This gives it the literal translation of 'cup herb.' The basis for the name comes from the traditional way of steeping it in and drinking it from a gourd. No it is not an Australian greeting or a cream substitute for tea (like Coffee Mate for coffee.) It is actually pronounced 'Yerba Mat-ay' and is a very healthy herbal drink.

Only drink yerba mate translate spanish