Today is Argentinian National Mate Day!

Today we celebrate the National Day of one of our most iconic beverages, the mate.

We decided to celebrate this day because it was the birthday of Andrés Guaçurary y Artigas, "commander Andresito". He was born in 1778 in Corrientes province. Here is his kick ass statue in Posadas, Misiones.

He was our first native governor (from the Guarani tribe) and fought against the Empire of Brazil. His second surname, Artigas, came from when the Uruguayan procer (founding father) José Gervasio Artigas adopted him.

The consumption of yerba mate pre-dates the "discovery" of America. Ava Guarani population of Paraguay, north east Argentina and south Brazil used to drink it from many centuries ago, probably started as some kind of medicine. There was found some yerba mate in a Quechua tomb near Lima, Peru (3000+ km), so it's been hypothesised it was a luxury item.

Here, a yerba mate plant from the Botanical Gardens in Buenos Aires.

Spanish conquerors and American born criollos adopted the beverage from the Guarani. First European people that drank mate were probably the settlers of Asunción, Paraguay, after its foundation in 1537.

Here is a painting where Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguayan dictator, enjoys a mate (ca. 1820).

Eventually other natives of Argentina adopted mate, too. These are Mapuches from Patagonia (roughly 2500 km south from were yerba mate was first used) drinking mate while waiting for the barbecue to be done. (ca. 1880)

But many more fell for the mate. These are Irish ranch owners drinking mate. (Daguerreotype, ca. 1860.)

Today mate is deep rooted in Argentinian culture. This statue in Posadas, Misiones, doesn't honour anyone in particular, but the generic "cebador", the person in charge of pouring water into the mate.

So if you come to Argentina, give it a try. There's a chance that you'll love it, as happened with many other in all these centuries!

Also: props to all the unsung heroes that harvest the yerba mate. You're our real MVPs.

Horse drinking mate tax.