Yerba mate

Yerba mate (mate, Paraguay tea) is prepared from the dried, ground leaves and twigs of the holly Ilex paraguariensis. The tea plant is not involved, yet caffeine is: a 2024 review in the journal Molecules reports 41.82 to 82.4 mg in 150 ml of infusion. EU customs guidance gives mate its own code, 0903, separate from tea under 0902.

Turning the leaf into raw material starts in a hurry. According to the Argentine product description by Alimentos Argentinos, zapecado, a first treatment over an open fire, and drying must be finished within 24 hours of harvest. Ageing, or estacionamiento, follows: traditionally about a year in a warehouse, or 30 to 45 days with controlled humidity and temperature.

Argentina is the main producer. The core growing zone in Misiones province and northern Corrientes covers about 200,000 ha (press reports citing INYM data). According to the Bolsa de Comercio de Rosario, using INYM data, Argentines drank an average of 6.11 kg of mate per person in 2023. Law No 26.871 of 2013 declared mate the country's national infusion. Neighbouring Paraguay has its own cold version, tereré, which UNESCO added to its Representative List of intangible heritage on 17 December 2020; mate itself has no entry on that list.

In the laboratory, Najman and colleagues measured an average of 17.79 mg of caffeine per gram of dry material in single infusions. The review in the same paper gives, per 150 ml, 11.83 to 51.57 mg for Green tea and 42.27 to 120.89 mg for coffee. So in caffeine terms mate sits closer to coffee than to herbal infusions: Chamomile tea and Rooibos have none. EFSA regards a total of 400 mg of caffeine a day from all sources as safe for adults, and 200 mg for pregnant women.

Traditionally the vessel, also called a mate, is filled about 75 % with dry herb, topped with hot water and sipped through a straw called a bombilla, with water added again and again. The same authors consider 65 to 80 °C the best water temperature. Cold tereré is a reminder that Iced tea can be made without tea leaves.

In the ingredient list, expect yerba mate or Ilex paraguariensis.

Why this matters to you: you know how much caffeine a cup of mate holds and will not mistake it for tea or for a caffeine-free herbal infusion.