Mate Drink

Mate Drink at U+1F9C9 is an emoji showing a gourd of yerba mate with a metal straw, used to represent the South American caffeinated infusion and the social ritual around drinking it. It belongs to the Food & Drink emoji category and appears in Unicode’s Supplemental Symbols and Pictographs block. In everyday messaging, it most often means mate itself: preparing a gourd, sharing a round, taking a break, or expressing affection for the drink. It is especially relevant in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, southern Brazil, and parts of Chile, where mate is a familiar daily beverage; a message like “desayuno con 🧉” or “vamos por unos mates 🧉” signals the drink and its relaxed social setting. The emoji also appears in travel, culture, and identity posts to evoke Rioplatense and broader Southern Cone life, alongside references to football, asado, university study sessions, or office routines. Brands, cafés, and yerba mate communities may use it in menus, promotions, and social media captions to label mate products or to distinguish them from tea and coffee. Its appearance varies by platform, but it is generally recognizable by the gourd-and-straw shape. People searching or tagging may use “mate,” “yerba mate,” or “mate drink,” since the word can otherwise be confused with the English noun meaning friend or partner.