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Mortensen’s Tea Causes Airport Security Problems

Posted by Richard Head

Thursday September 11, 2008

LORD OF THE RINGS star VIGGO MORTENSEN’s favourite tea often causes him problems on his travels – because airport security officials think it’s pot.

The actor refuses to travel without his beloved Argentinean Mate, which often confuses the authorities – because it looks like a bag of weed.

And it doesn’t help that Mortensen, who grew up in Argentina, drinks his tea with a pipe.

He was recently stopped on his way to the Toronto Film Festival in Canada.

He says, “They asked me if it’s (pipe) a bong or a pipe to smoke pot. I’ve made the mistake of putting the mate in a plastic Ziploc bag instead of its original packaging, so that it ends up looking like pot.

“At first, they (officials) always think the worst, but then you explain to them what it is, and it’s always been OK.”

Mortensen explains he likes to travel with his own tea because he finds it difficult to find in local stores around the world.

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  • Alex

    It is incorrect to say Argentinean mate, as mate tea is commonly consumed in Uruguay, Southern Brazil and Paraguay (cold, called terere). Lets say just “mate” or “south american mate”…better put things that way as mate belongs to the gaucho culture and the gauchos are all over Uruguay, Argentina and Southern Brazil.

  • Heather

    The object he was carrying was not a pipe but a straw. Mate is drunk through a metal straw, called a bombilla, with holes in the bottom to filter the tea. At first glance a bombilla might look like a pipe because it is long with a bulbous end, but upon further consideration it is very clearly not a pipe.