Mate - our national drink
When I meet with my friends at home, in a park or even at work, mate is almost always present. It's a national tradition, although not only in Argentina: people from Uruguay, Paraguay, and south of Brazil are heavy mate-drinkers as well. It's a kind of tea made with the dried leaves of a plant, Ilex paraguariensis (or in Spanish, "yerba mate"). Some people add sugar to it, but the best mate is bitter. You don't drink mate in cups: hot water is poured into a round mate (yes, it's also called mate) with yerba and sipped with a "bombilla" (a metal straw).
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