Local Drinks

1. Tereré

   Tereré (ice-cold yerba mate)

   Usage

   Paraguay's national drink: ka'a (yerba mate) steeped in ice water and passed around a circle through a metal straw. It was inscribed on the UNESCO intangible heritage list in 2020 as "traditional knowledge and practices of tereré in the culture of pohã ñana". One vessel goes round the group — accepting when it is offered is the polite move

   Grammar Note

   It is written "tereré" with the accent in Spanish, in the press and on the UNESCO listing; the unaccented "terere" also circulates

2. Ka'ay

   Ka'ay (hot yerba mate)

   Usage

   Ka'a (yerba) plus y (water). Hot water is poured over the yerba and sipped through a straw; it corresponds to Spanish "mate". Where tereré uses ice water, this uses hot — a winter-morning drink

3. Kojói

   Kojói (mate cocido, burnt-sugar mate infusion)

   Usage

   Yerba scorched together with sugar, then infused and strained, served in a cup rather than passed round — that is what separates it from tereré and ka'ay. The standard breakfast partner for mbeju or chipa

   Grammar Note

   An alternative name is "ka'ary", which corresponds to Spanish "mate cocido"

4. Taperyva rykue

   Taperyva rykue (coffee)

   Usage

   "Taperyva" is the coffee plant and "rykue" its liquid. In a café, though, the Spanish "café" is what people actually say

5. Yva rykue

   Yva rykue (fruit juice)

   Usage

   "Yva" is fruit and "rykue" its liquid. The usual ones include narã (orange), limõ (lemon), anana (pineapple), arasa (guava), mburukuja (passionfruit) and sandía (watermelon)

6. Ka'a

   Ka'a (yerba mate leaf)

   Usage

   The leaf of Ilex paraguariensis — the base of tereré, ka'ay and kojói alike. Supermarkets carry dozens of grades by roast and grind, and the word "ka'a" on the packet is the marker to look for

   Grammar Note

   Note: ka'a (yerba, herb) is a different word from ka'aguy (forest) and ka'aru (afternoon); the puso position and the following syllable tell them apart

7. Pohã ñana

   Pohã ñana (medicinal herbs added to tereré)

   Usage

   Literally "healing herb". Paraguayans crush herbs in a wooden mortar and dissolve them in the tereré water — the word appears in the UNESCO listing itself. Street and market yuyeras will pick the right herb if you tell them how you feel

   Grammar Note

   Indigenous knowledge covers which herbs may be combined and which may not; leaves, flowers, bark and roots are all used

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