Overview
- Multiple outlets published practical guides this week explaining steps to prepare caña con ruda so families can have it ready for the early‑morning ritual on August 1.
- Reports trace the custom to Guaraní communities in Corrientes and Misiones, where ruda combined with cane aguardiente was used historically to face cold, rains and winter sicknesses.
- The basic preparation places cleaned ruda branches or leaves inside a glass bottle of caña blanca and leaves the mix to macerate for at least a week, often 30 days or several months depending on family tradition.
- Consumption customs vary by region: the drink is taken in ayunas during the first hours of August 1 in one, three or seven sips, and practitioners are warned that the effects are symbolic and that drinking alcohol on an empty stomach has risks.
- The ritual now crosses provinces and borders into Paraguay and parts of Bolivia and serves as a living act of cultural transmission that many people use to mark the start of a new seasonal cycle and to honor the Pachamama celebration.