Ya Heard of Yerb?
The Story Behind the Ubiquitous Yellow Can By Sophie Becker
If you go to the University of Vermont, you have definitely encountered people sipping from tall yellow cans while walking around campus. Maybe you’ve seen towers of them or even an entire curtain made out of them. Students here have adopted yerba mate into their college culture and routine. When I found out that Cat Pause, our on-campus store, was the fourth biggest retailer of Guayakí brand yerba mate in the country, I realized how prevalent this drink is on campus. As an advocate of conscious consumption, I believe that even though we cannot always be perfectly sustainable consumers, we should nonetheless make an effort to be educated and mindful of what we purchase and consume. My first encounter with yerba was in my hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina; there, I saw the drink become popular on social media. Before I knew it, yerba cans started showing up on the shelves at my local Target. It was not until I came to UVM, though, that I saw such copious consumption of this beverage en masse. I was curious why this drink was so popular, particularly at this school. This drink is popular with high school and college students in part due to its high caffeine content. As an alternative to coffee and energy drinks, a 15.5 fluid ounce Guayakí Yerba Mate, according to their website, has 150 mg of caffeine. Mate also contains minerals like potassium and magnesium, vitamins B1, B2, and C, amino acids, and polyphenols, all of which have been proven to have positive health benefits by a 2021 conference of scientific dissemination created by the National Institute of Yerba in Argentina. During this conference in which scientists and researchers shared the results of their stud-
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ies, it was established that yerba mate protects cells from oxidative damage, improves the body’s natural defenses, and positively impacts the circulatory and digestive systems. When I spoke to UVM students about their reasons for drinking yerba mate, many mentioned that they love the taste of yerba mate — a sentiment that I strongly agree with. They also appreciate its ability to wake them up in the morning while appearing more natural and eco-friendly than other energy drinks. Lastly, UVM students, with their earthy sensibilities, mentioned that the values of Guayakí aligned with their own, giving them more reason to consume it. Once I had heard my peers’ thoughts on yerba mate, I wanted to learn more about this drink and its history. According to the Yerba Mate Argentina site, mate is an herbal drink made from the leaves of a tree in the holly family, Ilex paraguariensis, which is native to the Atlantic Forest in South America. This tropical forest with a diverse variety of wildlife extends along the Atlantic coast of South America, from Brazil to Uruguay. The tree was first cultivated by Indigenous groups in Paraguay, specifically the Guaraní and Tupí peoples, who originally lived in Central Paraguay and still live throughout South America. These groups’ methods highly influenced the way people currently drink yerba mate, though its preparation and consumption has varied from region to region and throughout history. The most common method of preparation is to handpick, cut, dry, and grind the leaves into a fine powder. The leaves are then placed in a calabash gourd and steeped with hot, but not boiling, water. After preparation, the mate can be enjoyed through a metal straw, called a
