Tereré

What it is

Tereré is an infusion, a drink made by steeping leaves in water. The leaves come from yerba mate, whose botanical name is Ilex paraguariensis. What sets tereré apart is temperature: the water is cold and usually full of ice. It is poured into a guampa, a container shaped for drinking, and drawn up through a bombilla, a metal tube with a filter at the tip that holds back the leaf fragments. Many people add herbs, known as yuyos. The liquid comes out pale green, light, non-alcoholic and low in calories, and it is taken most often when the weather is warm.

Origins and history

The Guaraní drank it first, in the lands that are now Paraguay. Its use carried on through the period of the Guaraní-Jesuit Missions, when the area around those missions became its stronghold. Later, people who left the region took the habit with them, and it has worked as a social drink for centuries. In 2020 the cultural body UNESCO added the tereré of Paraguay, together with the knowledge of the pohã ñana herbs, to its list of intangible cultural heritage. A year earlier, by Resolution 219/2019, the country's National Secretariat of Culture had declared the same practices a national intangible heritage.

How it is shared

One person takes the role of server and keeps a supply of cold water. Leaf is packed into the guampa until it is about two-thirds to three-quarters full. Water goes over the leaf, is drawn up through the bombilla, and then the cup passes to the next drinker. The server tops it up for as long as anyone wants more. Nothing about it is private: the same straw and the same cup travel around the circle, which is why taking a turn carries meaning. Guampas are made from cattle horn, wood, silver, stainless steel, or from the porongo, a South American gourd. Metal ones are often wrapped in leather.

Herbs and juices

Adding things to the water is normal, and not only for flavour. Herbs called yuyos go in, chosen for their cooling or medicinal qualities. Among the many named are mint, lemon balm, verbena, burrito, cocú, pererina, sarsaparille, horsetail, ajenjo, slender dayflower, escobilla, batatilla, agrial, spikesedges, taropé, perdudilla blanca, ginger and saffron crocus. Fruit is another route: lemon, lime, orange or pineapple juice mixed with the water gives what people call tereré de jugo, or in Paraguay more often tereré ruso. Shops and chains there also sell flavoured ice made from herbs and fruit, meant to be dropped into the drink.

Around the region

Paraguay treats tereré as its official drink and as a heritage of the nation, and the last Saturday of February is National Tereré Day. Itakyry has hosted the Festival of Tereré every year since 1998. Across the border, northeastern Argentina often takes it with water, herbs and ice, or with citrus, and the number of drinkers there keeps growing, particularly in summer and among younger adults. It is also common in Eastern Bolivia and in Brazil's Central-West and North, where the heat helps. Argentina's Qom people drink it regularly; one study found most of them take it several times a day, alongside stews and foods such as torta fritas or chipá cuerito.

How Tereré is kept

Someone in the group acts as server. Yerba mate leaf goes into the guampa until it is two-thirds to three-quarters full. Cold water, with ice and often herbs or juice, is kept in a vacuum flask. The server pours water over the leaf, takes the first round through the bombilla, then tops up and passes the guampa on. Each person drinks the whole cupful in turn and hands it back. The server keeps refilling while people want more. Because the cup and straw are shared, joining in is a sign of trust and closeness.

When and where

Tereré has no season of its own; it is drunk all year, and in hot weather it is drunk constantly, often several times a day. National Tereré Day falls on the last Saturday of February, and the Festival of Tereré at Itakyry is held each year. In Argentina, consumption rises during the summer months.

Its home is Paraguay, where it is the official drink and where the herbs used with it are best known. It is also established in northeastern Argentina, especially Formosa Province, in Eastern Bolivia, and in the Central-West and Northern parts of Brazil, where the climate is hot. Drinkers in southern Paraguay often use citrus juice.

What Tereré means

Handing the guampa on is an act of welcome, and sharing one cup and one bombilla is understood as a sign of trust and of belonging together. Long practice has made tereré a marker of Paraguayan identity, recognised as heritage at home and by UNESCO. The herbs carry their own weight: they are picked for refreshment and for their reputed value against everyday complaints. Because the water is cold rather than hot, the drink is also a practical answer to heat and a way of passing time together through the hottest hours.

On the table

Flavours: Ginger Saffron

Questions people ask about Tereré

See also

AsadoA slow fire, a grill and a shared table: how people gather to cook and eat meatJāņiAn annual Latvian summer solstice celebration of bonfires, singing and woven wreathsTwelve GrapesA grape for every chime at midnight on 31 December, welcoming the new yearKopitiamA neighbourhood coffee shop where Southeast Asians share meals, drinks and news

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle
• Qué es el tereré, la bebida paraguaya reconocida como patrimonio inmaterial de la humanidadBBC, Article
• Practices and traditional knowledge of Terere in the culture of Pohã Ñana, Guaraní ancestral drink in ParaguayUNESCO, Heritage listing
• Qué es el tereré, la bebida paraguaya reconocida como patrimonio inmaterial de la humanidadBBC, Article
• Practices and traditional knowledge of Terere in the culture of Pohã Ñana, Guaraní ancestral drink in ParaguayUNESCO, Article

• Tereré on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.