Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Tereré Time ~ What is it?


 One of my favorite aspects of the Paraguayan culture is the emphasis put on spending time with others, not just family, but neighbors and co workers. At certain times of the day, one must just sit down and share some tereré. Sipping communally from the same cup, sharing thoughts, offering advice, it's a vital part of life and relationships among these wonderful people.

I have to confess that after four years, I still do not enjoy the flavor of  tereré, I don't hate it, but its not something I would drink alone. But what I do love is the time spent drinking  tereré with my Paraguayan friends, especially outside, sitting in a circle in the late afternoon.


Tereré Time is a time to unwind and catch up with one another, a time to bond and chit chat. On Tuesdays I would like to have a virtual Tereré Time with my readers. Tell me what new in your life. Ask me a question. Encourage one another.


To get the conversation started, let me ask you, do you know what tereré is? Have you ever tried it? Would you try it if offered to you? How would you feel about sharing the same cup and straw?

9 comments:

  1. Is terere a type of tea? It looks like something I've seen in Brazil when I was there on a missions trip. If it is like that tea then it is very strong. As far as drinking out of the same cup/straw....I wouldn't like that at all. I would be thinking the whole time about all the germs being passed around!

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  2. I've never tried it, but from the looks of things, I don't think that you don't want to be the LAST person in the rotation to drink... ;)

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  3. Bill and Tammy, it is a type of tea. I am sure you saw Yerba Mate in Brazil but we do it cold here in Paraguay, except in the winter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terer%C3%A9

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  4. FJ, after sharing gourds in the jungle, I have no problem sharing here. Usually, we sit in a circle and it is passed from one to another with refills of water from the thermos.

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  5. Sharing mate is ritualistic and has its own set of rules. Usually, one person, the host or whoever brought the terere, prepares the drink and refills the gourd with water.The cup, guampa, is passed around, often in a circle, and each person finishes the guampa before giving it back to the brewer. The guampa is passed in a clockwise order. The guampa is passed until the water runs out. When a person no longer wants to drink terere, they say gracias (thank you) to the 'host' when returning the guampa to signify they do not want any more. :)

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  6. I love Terere. But then again I grew up with it. It is so refreshing to me and tastes like home. My sister who is in China feels the same. When she visited here in Aug. she took a whole suitcase filled with Yerba back with her, so that she and her hubby could enjoy Terere and Mate over there too. :)
    But I do think it's an acquired taste.

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  7. It's not the sharing... it's all the stuff floating on the "top" that would make it to the "bottom" by the end of the cup's round...

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  8. I drink terere and mate at home here, every once in awhile by myself, because no one else drinks it. It IS an acquired taste. :) I enjoyed the terere time back in Paraguay when I was there too, and don't have so much a problem with the germs thing. We used to drink cafe batido in the same way, as well when it got colder.

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  9. I may have had terere when I visited Paraguay. I don't remember. One consequence of my time in Argentina is that I consume a kilo per month of yerba mate sin palo [no stems]. I do not use the metal straw with wooden gourd, but pulverize the mate in a coffee grinder and then add to a big cup of microwaved-hot water.

    For a while it was hard to find stemless yerba mate in the markets. The Mexican grocery market was out of it for over a year. I found stemless yerba mate at a Lebanese deli. Go Figure.

    A week ago I had a conversation with a friend of a friend, who said she had found out about this great tasting tea. Turned out to be yerba mate. But she consumed it from teabags. As I consume 1/3 cup [30 gr] of dry mate daily, it would take me about 10 teabags to get my daily mate dose.

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