How´s your Mate´?

One not so great thing about South America is that the coffee here is really bad... even compared to Geraldton!. While some of the best coffee in the world is produced here it seems no-one has bothered to inform the locals how to make a nice cuppa. Some funky versions of coffee I´ve had include a cup full of warm UHT milk served with a stick of Nescafe Blend 43 on the side (and the proud as punch Chilean waiter actually hung around waiting for a tip!) and a tall glass of watery but bitter broth with cinnamon sprinkled on top - labelled as a cappuccino, but lacking milk or even frothy water on top. Coming from a rather flash looking cafe in a fairly expensive region of Buenos Aires I must say I was quite disappointed.

But that´s quite ok, because here they´ve got this other funky drink here, called Mate`! (That's pronounced ¨ma-tay¨, not ¨mate¨). And given the trouble I´ve had trying to get a nice coffee, I´ve grown quite attached to it.

It´s similar to tea, only its drunk through a metal straw and they have these cool little traditional pots or gourds which the Mate' is poured into, and which is topped up with hot water from a thermos.

The Mate' is quite bitter, but gets really nice once you get into it, and it gives you a very effective wake up slap if you happen to be struggling to start the day - (which is a common problem in this part of the world, given the night life rages to 6am.) It´s similar to caffeine, only it doesn't give you the shakes and nervous energy like caffeine does (maybe its time i cut down on the coffee anyway.....)

Mate' paraphanalia - seems to make up about 50% of any Argentinian market stall.

Anyhoot, its really popular here, (Particularly Argentina and Uruguay) which I guess is part of the reason why the coffee´s so bad. Its pretty funny, in Uruguay almost every person rushes around town with a thermos flask under their arm sucking at a little pot of mate'. I´ve seen little kids running around playing soccer (like 10 years old) sucking on these little micky mouse themed mate' pots, police officers cruising around busting people with the mate' paraphernalia tucked under their arm, even the Bikini babes on the beach clutch the gear, some even have thermos-shaped arm-pit tan-lines.

And when it comes to drinking the stuff, there´s a very important ritual. One person (the owner of the mate' gear) prepares a little pot, passes it to a friend, who drinks the mate' until he's had his fill. You can only pass (and receive) the mate with your right hand, and when you´ve had enough, you say ¨Gracias¨and hand it back, then the pot is refilled and passed on to the next Amigo. And, most importantly, the mate' is not a microphone! You must drink the mate'!