Tereré with juice – sweeter version of cold mate

Tereré with juice is a refreshing drink that helps to stay hydrated during hot summer days. Thanks to replacing water with the juice it becomes sweeter and more delicate, so even people who don’t like the bitterness of traditional mate will love it. Where did the idea for such a drink come from and how to prepare it yourself?

Tereré with juice – where did it come from?

According to the tradition, tereré is cold mate - a drink made with a dried mix, cold water, and ice cubes, sometimes with herbs. Its history dates back to the 1930s in Paraguay when the Paraguayans were fighting the Bolivians for the control of the province which was to provide them with access to large oil deposits. Paraguay’s forces were supported by Russian soldiers who had fled Russia after the October Revolution. As they weren’t used to very high temperatures, they were looking for refreshment in a traditional mate. However, it turned out that they didn’t enjoy the taste of traditional mate or tereré with water, so they started to add different kinds of juice to it. After some time this way of preparing tereré won the Paraguayans’ hearts, so they started calling it the tereré Ruso, which means Russian tereré.

How to prepare tereré with juice?

Tereré with juice has cooling features not only because of the cold juice that is used to prepare it but also thanks to the refreshing combination of the bitter and sweet tasting notes of the fruit juice. How to prepare tereré with juice at home? You can prepare tereré with each kind of yerba mate tea mix but it’s worth trying the one especially for tereré - in most cases, they contain dried citrus fruits. Low temperature is essential while preparing this drink, as it is needed to release active substances responsible for the taste and features. For this reason, besides the cold juice, you may need some ice cubes. When it comes to the flavour of the juice, you can experiment - orange and passion fruit juice would be perfect if you prefer the sourish taste of tereré, whereas apple or apricot juice would add some sweetness to it. Fill the gourd about halfway with the dried mix, add juice and ice cubes.