Street Ritual · Cold Mate Infusion
Tereré
Photo: Genialnico / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tereré is claimed above all by neighbouring Paraguay, where the practice of drinking it with crushed medicinal herbs (pohã ñana) was added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2020.
Yerba mate leaves steeped with ice-cold water or fruit juice instead of hot water, sipped through the same metal straw and gourd used for hot mate. It's carried in a thermos of cold water and shared on the street or at market stalls throughout the day.
Why it's made this way: Misiones' hot, humid Litoral climate made this cold variation a daily necessity here and across neighboring Corrientes and Paraguay, unlike the hot mate drunk in Argentina's cooler south.
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