History:

The Guarani tribe in the forests of Paraguay have known for centuries of the restorative and stimulative properties of a native yerba maté. Legend has it that Pa’i Shume – a tall, fair-skinned, bearded god – was the one who taught them to harvest and prepare the leaves of the yerba. First introduced to colonizing and modern civilizations by the Guarani Indians of Parana-Paraguay river system of southern South America. 16th century, Juan de Sols, a Spanish explorer of South America's famed La Plata River, reported that the Guarani Indians of Paraguay brewed a leaf tea that "produced exhilaration and relief from fatigue." Spanish settlers quickly developed a taste for this wild harvest infusion that the indigenous people revered.

In the early 17th century, Spanish colonization of Parana-Paraguay river system was primarily tied to Jesuit missionaries who encouraged large scale agriculture as a means of using the indigenous resources to produce marketable goods. The Jesuit missionaries realized the great economic potential of yerba mate, and from the 1650s to 1670s successfully established the first yerba mate plantations at their missions. - grew in popularity throughout southern South America during the 17th and 18th century. Their subsequent demand for the tea led the Jesuits to develop plantations of the wild species in Paraguay and yerba mate became known as "Jesuits' tea" or "Paraguay tea." In 1767 the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish colonies and the cultivation of yerba mate ended for well over a hundred years. During the period between 1767 and 1895, yerba mate was only attainable by wild harvest methods, which remained an important aspect for much of its commercial history. In the late 1890s large scale yerba mate plantations were developed throughout the region to accommodate the vastly growing market. Two centuries later gauchos on the region’s vast pampas utilized the herb, resting beside their fires and sipping the tea through a bombilla, a silver straw with a fine-screened strainer.

The scientific name Ilex paraguarensis was given by the French naturalist and botanist Auguste de Saint Hilaire in 1822.

Maté did not catch on in Europe probably because it only gained commercial success in Spanish America after 1700, long after tea, coffee and cacao had become available in Europe.

Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle, 1936 said " I reached the place of our vibouac by sunset and drinking much mate, soon made up my bed for the night. The wind was very strong and cold, but I never slept more comfortably."