Uruguayan Mate Culture

Mate

Specialised

Uruguay drinks more yerba mate per head than any country on earth, and its form is distinct: a WIDE gourd packed full, yerba milled with more powder and often no stem, and — the visible national habit — a THERMOS CARRIED UNDER THE ARM in the street, at work, on the bus, at the beach, all day. It is drunk unsweetened and shared from one bombilla in a fixed round. ⚠ THE YERBA IS ALMOST ALL IMPORTED, chiefly from Brazil, since Uruguay grows none — a national drink with no national crop.

What is recorded

Uruguay records the highest per-capita yerba mate consumption of any country, drunk hot from a wide gourd with a thermos carried through the day. Uruguay cultivates no yerba mate; supply is almost entirely imported, chiefly from Brazil. documented

Uruguay records the highest per-capita yerba mate consumption in the world while cultivating none of it; supply is imported, chiefly from Brazil. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to