Mate tastes like tea

Had a mate tasting yesterday in the hostel. Mate is a popular drink in Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. It is a mild stimulant like coffee but the buzz is not as severe and you don´t get the jitters. You see lots of people here carrying little hollow gourds (called a mate) with straws called bombillas, and thermoses full of hot water so they can keep sipping the same tea until it wears out.

What I didn´t realize before is that between friends it is or can be a shared beverage. The host makes the drink, then pours hot water into it for the first person who is to drink it until hearing the empty slurping sound from the straw and then returns the gourd to the host, who refills it and passes it to the next person. I had a turn as the host, but I¨m not hooked on it yet.