The phrase "a drinking mate" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to refer to a friend or companion with whom one shares drinking activities, often in a social context.
Example: "After a long week at work, I always look forward to spending the weekend with my drinking mate at the pub."
Alternatives: "drinking buddy" or "bar companion".
In the morning, inmates at Punta de Rieles wake up much like you'd expect in any other town in Uruguay: a group of boys sit in a circle, drinking mate, the herbal infusion rich in caffeine, to warm up; others groggily play with a ball by the square; a few men ready their drums for band practice; and some come and go, carrying out the day's duties and leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.
On an epic trip to Chile earlier this year, I convinced myself that I would start drinking mate, a caffeinated tea drink that's popular there, on the regular.
Drinking mate is often times a group experience; it's a symbol of hospitality and friendship.
They gave up a sunny evening to sit together, drinking mate tea and share their warmth and expertise with me.
A token of friendship As they sit together drinking mate tea in the garden, Ahmad and Nizar have a similar air of sincerity and responsibility.
The final factors in the logistic regression model were: previous abortion, full-time housewife, physical abuse, perception of how many drinks a person can hold, need to cut down on drinking, mate was user of alcohol, used drugs before this pregnancy, believed that some alcohol use while pregnant was acceptable, and had experienced difficulty remembering events after drinking.
But, if hunger kicks in while drinking mate, baked goods make a far better pairing with the strong flavour of the tea.
"No", she writes to me, "because I am wearing Uruguay and in fact, I am responding your questions drinking mate with yerba from Uruguay on a Santa Monica morning with a greyish overcast that resembles autumn in Montevideo.
The shops have everything from hand-cranked phonographs to embossed gourds for drinking mate.
Gourds for drinking mate (traditional Argentina tea) make excellent souvenirs or gifts, and traditional Argentine foods like empanadas (filled pastries) and locro (stew) are for sale.
