Probably the biggest surprise to me was that my entire family took to mate when they tried it. Most people say it tastes like wet grass and never try it again, but they all enjoyed it, to the point of going shopping for their own gourds to take home and buying up five kilograms of yerba (mate herb) to take home with them. I don't know if you can find yerba on the prairies, but I'm sure it's more expensive than the $1US for 500g you pay down here. I'm quite sure I'll be getting requests for more soon.