The flavor of yerba mate is strongly vegetal, herbal, and grassy, similar to flavors found in some varieties of green tea.
The drink "mate" (pronounced mah-tay) is prepared by steeping dry leaves and twigs of yerba mate, an evergreen plant, in hot water (as opposed to boiling water like black tea.) Steeping yerba mate in boiling water produces an overly bitter flavor so it is best to mind the temperature when steeping your mate. Drinking mate with friends from a shared hollow gourd (called a guampa), or cabaça / cuia in Portuguese) with a metal straw (a bombilla in Spanish, bomba in Portuguese) is traditional in many parts of the world.
