Argentinian yerba mate, shipped from Rīga
We are a small Latvian shop with one goal: real yerba mate from the growers themselves. No foreign labels, no repacking — the same Taragüi, Unión, Mañanita and La Merced that Argentina drinks, plus the gourds, bombillas and thermos flasks to drink them properly.
What is yerba mate?
Yerba mate is the dried, cut leaf of Ilex paraguariensis, an evergreen tree that grows in the subtropical north-east of Argentina. The leaves are harvested, dried over a wood fire, aged and cut — some blends with the stems (con palo), some pure leaf only (despalada or sin palo).
It is brewed unlike tea: the leaf goes into a gourd, hot water is poured onto a small part of it, and the same leaf is refilled ten times or more through a filtered metal straw called a bombilla. In Argentina it is shared — one gourd, one straw, passed around the circle.
Mate carries natural caffeine (often called mateine), which is why it is drunk in the morning and right through the working day.
Words you will meet
- Mate / gourd — the vessel, traditionally a dried calabash gourd; also ceramic, wood or steel.
- Bombilla — a metal straw with a filter at the tip, so you drink the brew and not the leaf.
- Con palo / sin palo — with stems, for a gentler cup; without stems, for a stronger and fuller one.
- Terere — the same leaf brewed with cold water and ice, drunk in summer.
- Mate cocido — yerba in a tea bag, brewed in an ordinary cup.
How to drink it
Fill the gourd
Two thirds yerba, tilted to one side. Wet the low side with cool water first and let it settle — that is what keeps the brew from scorching.
Place the bombilla
Slide it into the damp side and leave it there. Pour water at about 75–80 °C — hot, never boiling — into the same spot each time.
Refill ten times
One gourd of leaf lasts the whole morning. When the flavour fades, empty it out — 30–50 g of yerba per sitting is normal.
No gourd, no time? Matemi dissolves.
The same Argentinian yerba, freeze-dried into a soluble powder. A spoon into hot or cold water, stir, drink — nothing to brew and nothing to wash.
How ordering works
Free shipping over €49
Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and the rest of the EU. Below that, a flat courier rate at checkout.
Dispatched in 24 hours
Orders placed on a working day leave our Rīga warehouse the same or the next day, with tracking.
14-day returns
Unopened packs and accessories can be returned within 14 days — write to us first and we will sort it out.
Contact us
Questions about a blend, a gourd, an order or wholesale — we reply within one business day.