-Sugar and selected flavor of dried yerba leaves: (Everyone likes different kinds of flavors from fruity to very bitter.)
-Crackers or cookies for a snack
-Bag to carry everything in order to make mate wherever you want to go.
The process generally goes like this: One person in the group prepares the mate/sugar mixture and then fills the cup with hot water. They drink the first mate, which has the strongest taste. Once they hear the bubbling sound indicating there is no more water, they will fill the cup again with water and pass the mate cup to the next person in the group.
There are many different ways of making mate depending on what kind of flavor you like and the temperature you want. There are two main temperatures of mate: one is cold and one is hot. Cold mate, which uses ice, is generally found in Paraguay and is called Tereré. Households that drink a lot of mate will sometimes invest in a water kettle that has a mate setting in order to make sure the water is the correct temperature. Mate is rarely drunk alone. It is meant to bring people together to share moments and conversations or what they call charlas here.
