Julia J.S. Sarreal is Associate Professor at Arizona State University and author of The Guaraní and Their Missions: A Socioeconomic History. She has a Ph.D. in History from Harvard University and teaches classes on Latin American History and Latin American Studies. Dr. Sarreal first tried yerba mate as a Peace Corps volunteer in Curuguaty, Paraguay. Her intellectual interest in the beverage was sparked while living in Buenos Aires and working on her dissertation about the Guaraní missions.
"""Yerba Mate is the first book to chart the captivating journey of Argentina’s cherished caffeinated beverage from its indigenous roots to the modern day. Through meticulous documentation, author Julia Sarreal showcases how yerba mate has intertwined with Argentina’s cultural and racial dynamics. She sheds light on yerba mate’s transformative role in shaping the country’s national identity and its present ubiquity."" * Food Tank * ""Yerba Mate would appeal to anyone interested in learning all that is needed to know about an infusion that is embedded in Argentine culture and the country’s everyday life. . . . I would recommend heating water, preparing a mate, and sipping while you enjoy the reading."" * ReVista * ""As Sarreal notes, yerba mate is now increasingly consumed as a cold beverage in Europe and the United States, marketed as a pick-me-up superfood with all the false trappings of Indigenous exoticization. And thanks to Sarreal’s sweeping book, scholars of Latin America and of food and drugs now have a definitive study of yerba mate in Argentina, and a picture window on the nation’s historical longue durée."" * Hispanic American Historical Review *"