Yerba mate liqueur

What yerba mate is

Yerba mate, botanical name Ilex paraguariensis, is a South American plant. For centuries it has been part of daily life across Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and southern Brazil: its leaves make mate, an infusion tied to a ritual of sharing.

It naturally contains caffeine, which remains in the liqueur: in Amaro Yerba it has been verified by analysis of the finished product.

Amaro or liqueur?

Amaro is a bittersweet liqueur born in the Italian tradition, usually built on many herbs. Amaro Yerba follows its method with a single botanical: yerba mate. On the label it is a yerba mate liqueur; in the glass it is an amaro.

How Amaro Yerba is made

At the heart of the recipe is a selected Argentine yerba mate, worked together with the palo, the woody part of the plant. Leaves and wood undergo a light roasting that gives the liqueur a herbal, toasted, faintly smoky character.

The yerba mate is cold-infused in water and wheat-based agricultural alcohol, with no flavourings or additives. After the infusion the liqueur ages in oak barriques and then settles naturally: any sediment is a result of the process.

33% vol. Ingredients: Argentine yerba mate, wheat-based agricultural alcohol, sugar. Gluten-free, vegan.

How it tastes

On the nose hay, fresh grass and tea leaves, with light toasted notes. The entry is bold and slightly spiced, then the sip opens towards honey and wood before the characteristic bitterness of yerba mate. The finish is long: liquorice, tobacco, chamomile, toasted wood, dried herbs.

How to drink it

Neat, in a short wide glass, at 15–20 °C; or with an ice cube. After dinner, and at aperitivo too.

In mixing, the herbal and woody notes of yerba mate work well. To start, the Yerba Tonic: 50 ml of Amaro Yerba, 200 ml of tonic water and an orange peel.