Alexis · Fondateur d'YVY Maté
Mate is known as a hot drink, brewed with water at around 80°C.
So, can it be drunk cold? And what does the cold version taste like?
The answer is yes! In Paraguay, cold mate is actually the national drink, known as tereré. The country's very hot temperatures and dry climate lend themselves to drinking yerba mate iced.
What is tereré?
A tereré, or cold mate
Tereré is a cold drink made from yerba mate and iced water. The brewing happens directly with iced water - not with hot water left to cool.
The yerba used for the iced brew can be green, aged, roasted, or even enhanced with fruits or plants like lemon, peach or mint.
How is tereré drunk?
The traditional tereré accessories
In Paraguay, the drink is consumed from a guampa. This can be a hollowed-out bull's horn or a leather-wrapped stainless steel vessel, to keep the drink cool.
The water is kept in a termo (the mate thermos), with a few ice cubes to keep it very cold. Finally, the same tool as for hot mate is used to sip the drink: a bombilla, a metal straw with a filtering tip.
So to prepare a cold mate, or tereré, you need nearly the same accessories as for a hot one:
- A mate gourd (or mate cup)
- A bombilla (or mate straw)
- A thermos or container with very cold water
- Some organic mate
In other South American regions, tereré is sometimes drunk with fruit juice - lemon, orange or even grapefruit!
Tereré is a highly social drink. Often prepared in gourds or guampas bigger than those used for mate, it's customary in Paraguay to share it. It's even impolite to refuse!
To get fully equipped in one go, our kits gather gourd, bombilla and yerba: the Discovery Kit, the Ceramic Kit or the Termolar Stainless Steel Kit, perfect for keeping tereré cool.
How to prepare a tereré?
Nothing complicated: the preparation follows the same steps as traditional mate - just with iced water.
- Fill your gourd (or guampa) half to two-thirds full with yerba mate.
- Personalize: add herbs (mint, verbena) or fruit (lemon, orange or grapefruit slices) straight into the water as you please — or go for our ready-to-use mates flavored with real fruit.
- Tilt the gourd slightly and drop 1 or 2 ice cubes into the hollow, on the side where you'll pour the water.
- Pour the ice-cold water from your thermos, without wetting all the yerba at once (just like a hot mate).
- Enjoy, and keep refilling with iced water as long as the yerba has flavor!
Tip: an insulated stainless steel gourd keeps the cold for over 3 hours — ideal for tereré.
What does tereré taste like?
The flavor of tereré
Brewing yerba mate with hot or cold water changes the taste of the drink. The coolness of the water counters the bitterness and can even lend traditional mate a sweet sensation.
That makes tereré an easier way for beginners to start drinking yerba mate.
You can also add herbs like mint, verbena or lemongrass to your tereré. Personally, I love adding green yerba mate with mint to mine! Mint brings a wonderfully refreshing feel to the cold drink.
What are tereré's health benefits?
Since the yerba is the same in a tereré as in a mate, the natural benefits are the same too!
You'll find vitamins A, B1, B2, B5, C and E, plus calcium, iron and magnesium, in both drinks.
Yerba mate remains a natural stimulant hot or cold - along with its appetite-soothing effect!
Served cold, tereré also keeps all the plant's mineral value: its potassium and magnesium make it a drink of choice for staying hydrated during exercise or heatwaves.
Alternative ways to enjoy it
The different ways to prepare tereré
Beyond the traditional guampa, tereré comes in several variations.
Tea bags, pitcher, French press or infuser
No gourd at hand? Tereré also comes in "home" versions: in tea bags, in a pitcher, in a French press or with an infuser, hot or cold. The doses, brewing times and tips for each method are detailed in our dedicated guide: How to prepare an iced mate?
For an easy taste, the 42-Bag Discovery Set gathers all our tea-bag recipes, and our 250 g eco refills (Green, Roasted, 24-Month Aged) are perfect for pitcher tests.
Mate as a cold soda
Sparkling mate drinks are increasingly popular, and surely familiar to you if you're a fan of refreshing, original drinks!
These delicious cold yerba mate recipes, sparkling or still, are perfect on their own or in a cocktail. The authentic flavors of a sparkling tereré are beautifully captured in the original recipes offered by several brands.
A few brands that caught our attention: Pop Maté, Brio Maté, Jomo and Club Maté.
In fact, at our shop at 48 rue des Cloys in Paris, we carry an iced mate, the Club Raté, a creation by Brasserie Illegaal! A gem made from three of our mates.
Club Raté, your sparkling tereré in a can
