César's heart is warmed by Johnny figuring that out so quickly. "I did, mostly with Papí, but sometimes we all drank it. I prefer the type that contains both leaves and stems. We just call it mate."

He pulls out the gourd—"The gourds don't usually have a base like this, but, ah, it's convenient"—and then a can lined in leather with a spout. "The nice part about this place is the gourd can't mold...."

César pours about two thirds of it full of mate and hands it over to Johnny to smell.