Yerba Mate

Hippies love yerba mate, a tea-like beverage originating from South America that contains caffeine and some other stuff that its proponents say make it better for you than regular coffee. Whatever. It tastes terrible, smells awful and really should be avoided at all costs. Sucking on bark from a tree in Portland’s Laurelhurst Park would be infinitely more pleasant. But it is a popular local drink in such countries as Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil and thus, with such a diverse and “ethnic” background, Northwest hippies of course embrace it fully.

Smoking

Regardless of their penchant for healthy, natural living, many hippie chicks smoke. But in order to avoid the banality and “conformism” that accompanies typical cigarette smoking, hippie chicks smoke different stuff…primarily, beedies and clove cigarettes. Beedies are small, filter-less flavored cigarettes originating from India. They are rolled in a tendu leaf, instead of paper, and tied together with a small string. Cloves, on the other hand, are more familiar with American audiences, although they originate from Indonesia. They include a mixture of clove spices and tobacco, and are often rolled in sheet tobacco instead of paper. Both types of cigarettes release pungent and generally unappealing odors, but hippie chicks would rather smoke these than regular cigarettes because, well, they’re “ethnic.” And as we all know, hippies love anything ethnic…carcinogenic or not.