If you want a cold, grassy, energizing glass, here is how to make iced yerba mate: brew the leaves cold in the fridge, or brew them and chill, then pour the mate over plenty of ice. The classic cold version is tereré (also spelled terere), where cool water — often with a squeeze of citrus or a few crushed herbs — is poured over the mate. It is refreshing, earthy and naturally caffeinated. Think of it as South America's own yerba mate iced tea, and it comes together in minutes if you cold-pour, or overnight if you cold-brew.
What iced yerba mate is
Yerba mate is a caffeinated herb from South America, made from the dried and cut leaves of the mate plant. Brewed cold and served over ice, it tastes bold, grassy and herbaceous with a slightly bitter, vegetal edge — closer to a steeped green herb than to a fruit tea. The bitterness is part of its character, and cool water tames it; boiling water pushes it toward harsh and astringent, so you brew mate cold or warm-but-not-boiling for an iced glass.
Yerba mate is beloved across South America — Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil all have deep mate cultures. Tereré, the cold version poured over mate with citrus juice or crushed herbs, is a social summer tradition in Paraguay and the wider region: a shared jug or gourd passed around in the heat. We will keep this a practical recipe and leave the full background to the guide on what yerba mate is.
Choosing yerba mate for a cold glass
Yerba mate is sold in a few styles, and the one you pick changes the glass. Green (unsmoked) mate, sometimes lightly aged, tastes clean and grassy and is the traditional choice for tereré. Toasted or roasted mate is mellower and nuttier, with less of the sharp green edge. Blends also come with stems (labelled con palo) or as leaf only (sin palo): leaf-only brews stronger and can turn more bitter, while stem blends are milder and smoother — which many people prefer over ice. For a bright, crisp tereré, reach for a green, stemmy blend; for something rounder, try a toasted one. Whatever you have will still make a good iced glass, so just adjust the steep time to taste.
How to make iced yerba mate: ingredients
Here is a simple base that scales up or down. It makes roughly four glasses.
- About 4 cups (950 ml) cold or cool water
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup (4-5 tbsp) loose yerba mate, or 4 mate tea bags
- Juice of 1 lemon or lime, or a splash of orange juice
- A few fresh mint leaves (optional, the tereré way)
- A little light sweetener to taste (optional — mate is usually served unsweetened)
- Plenty of ice
Mate can be brewed gourd-and-bombilla style, where the metal straw filters the leaves, or simply steeped in a jug and strained. Either works for a cold glass. The two methods below give you a fast tereré-style cold pour and a smoother overnight cold-brew.
Method 1: Tereré, the cold pour
- Add the loose mate to a jug, pitcher or a traditional gourd — roughly 4 tbsp for 4 cups of water, more if you like it bold.
- Pour cold or cool water over the leaves. Do not use boiling water; cold-to-cool keeps it from turning very bitter. Add the citrus juice and a few crushed mint leaves.
- Let it sit 3-5 minutes so the leaves open and the flavour draws out.
- Serve over ice. If you used a jug, strain as you pour; in a gourd, the bombilla filters the leaves for you.
- Top up with more cold water as you drink. Traditional tereré is refilled several times from the same mate, so one batch of leaves stretches across a long, hot afternoon.
This is the quickest route to a grassy, bracing glass, and the citrus-and-herb lift is what makes tereré feel so cooling.
Method 2: Fridge cold-brew
Cold-brewing in the refrigerator gives a rounder, less bitter result — the same principle behind cold-brewing tea, which pulls flavour slowly with cold water instead of heat.
- Combine the loose mate and cold water in a jar or pitcher (about 4-5 tbsp per 4 cups).
- Cover and refrigerate for 4-8 hours. Shorter steeps taste milder; longer steeps go bolder and a touch more bitter.
- Strain out every bit of the leaves so the brew stops steeping and does not turn harsh.
- Stir in the citrus juice and mint, pour over ice, and sweeten lightly only if you want to.
Cold-brewing also pulls a little less caffeine than a hot, fast brew, so a fridge batch tends to be gentler as well as smoother. For the general cold-glass technique that underpins all of this, see how to make iced tea.
Tereré vs cold-brew at a glance
| Aspect | Tereré (cold pour) | Fridge cold-brew |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Cold water poured over mate, steeped a few minutes, served over ice | Mate steeped in cold water in the fridge, then strained |
| Time | About 5 minutes, refilled as you go | 4-8 hours, mostly hands-off |
| Flavour | Bright, grassy, more assertive | Rounder, mellower, less bitter |
| Bitterness | Higher, especially on later refills | Lower and smoother |
| Best for | A social, refillable jug in the heat | Make-ahead and easy sipping |
Herbs, citrus and fruit add-ins
Tereré is built for personalizing, and the add-ins are half the fun. The classic lift is citrus — lemon, lime or orange juice, plus a wedge on the rim. Fresh herbs are the other tradition: crushed mint, lemon verbena, lemongrass or lemon balm muddled into the jug keep the drink cool and aromatic. In hot weather, a splash of fruit juice such as pineapple, grapefruit or a little apple rounds off the grassy edge without masking it. Muddle sturdy herbs and citrus in the bottom of the jug before you add the mate and water so their oils release, and keep any fruit additions well strained if you want a clear glass. Taste as you go: mate is usually served unsweetened, so start plain, then stir in a little simple syrup or honey only if you want it (never give honey to infants under 12 months).
Storage and make-ahead
Once brewed, strain the leaves out completely — leaving them in means the mate keeps steeping and grows bitter and cloudy. Keep the finished tea covered in the refrigerator and drink it within about 1-2 days for the freshest, cleanest taste. A cold-brew batch is ideal for making ahead: brew overnight, strain in the morning, and you have iced yerba mate ready to pour all day.
One food-safety habit matters most here: cold-brew in the fridge, or hot-brew and then chill promptly — do not leave mate steeping in warm water on the counter for hours. Warm water left standing is a friendlier environment for bacteria, so keep the process either cold from the start or chilled quickly after brewing, and keep the jug refrigerated between refills.
Fixing a glass that is off
- Too bitter: the water was too warm or the steep ran long. Switch to cold or cool water, shorten the steep, move to the fridge cold-brew, or try a stem blend (con palo).
- Too weak or watery: add more leaf (toward 1/3 cup per 4 cups), steep a little longer, and chill the brew before it hits the glass so melting ice does not dilute it.
- Cloudy or dusty: some fine mate powder always slips through. Strain through a finer sieve or a paper filter, and let a cold-brew batch settle for a minute before pouring.
Caffeine, and going easy late in the day
Be honest with yourself about the energy: yerba mate contains caffeine and can be quite stimulating, so it is worth going easy later in the day if caffeine keeps you up. Cold-brewing pulls a little less caffeine than a hot brew, but an iced yerba mate is still a caffeinated drink, not a caffeine-free herbal one. Responses to caffeine vary from person to person, and this is not medical advice — if you are sensitive, keep portions modest and lean on the milder cold-brew. For the detail on how much caffeine mate carries, see the guide on yerba mate and caffeine.