Etiquette and South American Tea

A morning or afternoon tea break in many South American countries, calls for a gourd filled with maté.  It is considered a serious breach of etiquette to refuse the maté cup when it is passed around.  An acquired taste, maté is drunk through a communal bombilla straw/strainer, from a gourd or gourd-shaped drinking vessel. These vessels range from the very plain carved wood, to actual gourds which have been decorated or ornamented like the one pictured above, to the extremely ornate in silver, on its own stand. 
— Photo, Maura J. Graber

In Argentina’s camps, those workers engaged in herding in Argentina are paid from $1 to $1.20 per month, and supplied daily with meat and maté. Should they wish to vary this diet, it must be done at their own expense. Maté is a peculiar herb grown in Paraguay, and is the national beverage of the country. It is dried, powdered and steeped in hot water and used as tea. It possesses considerable stimulating powers, and enormous quantities are consumed. All classes use it. A gourd is hollowed and filled with maté, a tube to suck through is inserted and the contents absorbed. It is considered a serious breach of etiquette to refuse the maté cup when it is passed around. The same tube or bombilla, passes from mouth to mouth. —Rio de Janeiro Correspondent to the San Francisco Chronicle, 1887

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia