Mate tea preparation and drinking method

Mate will likely be different from any drink you've ever tried, both in taste and in how it's drunk. Traditionally, yerba mate is... Mate (mate leaves) are placed in a drinking vessel called a gourd , mate, or cuia , filled with cold or hot water, and drunk through a bombilla (mate drinking straw). The bombilla has a filter at the bottom to prevent the mate leaves from being swallowed. Once the mate is finished, more water is simply poured in. If the mate is prepared carefully, it is very productive, yielding many equally strong infusions. Drinking mate is a philosophy; therefore, it is not called "mate tea"—it is mate, without tea. And those who wish to experience mate in its full magic share it with others and enjoy what comes their way…