So, you have finally decided to try yerba mate! You have everything set up on the table and ready to go: the yerba mate leaves, the hot water, the gourd, and the bombilla. If you don’t want your first experience with a mate infusion to be a disappointing one, it is essential that you cure your yerba mate gourd first.

This process will put as much as 72 hours between now and your first sip of delicious mate tea. But, trust us! It will be totally worth it. Once you cure your yerba mate gourd and learn how to maintain it in the long-term, you will get to enjoy one of the healthiest energy-boosting drinks out there in the proper, traditional way.

The Different Types Of Mate Tea Cups (Gourds)

Before you start cleaning and curing your gourd, you should know that there are several different kinds of cups that people use to drink their yerba mate tea from, and they include:

• Natural mate gourds (traditional)
• Wooden mate gourds
• Synthetic mate cups made from ceramic, glass or silicone

The latter category contains ready-to-use mate cups that do not need curing as they come from industrial production and are available at a large scale. While they could represent short-term solutions for drinking a mate tea on the go, yerba mate lovers know that this power-enhancing infusion tastes better from a natural mate gourd or at least from a wooden one. So, we will focus on curing these classic cups for yerba mate.

Why You MUST Clean Your Yerba Mate Gourd

Argentinians love drinking their yerba mate from natural gourds made from the fruit of the calabash plant just like their ancestors used to do. They harvest this fruit before it ripens completely and cut the top part to leave the bottom one looking like a round, curved mug. Next, they hollow it, cure it and might even decorate the outside walls with drawings and pieces of leather.

Curing your yerba mate gourd prevents its inner walls from splitting and altering the taste of the infusion. Also, the natural scent of the calabash fruit enhances the flavor of your yerba mate drink and prolongs its aroma.

How To Cure Your Yerba Mate Gourd

You should cure your yerba mate gourd if it is made from calabash or wood. Both of these varieties of mate gourds are available online, and they require proper cleaning before preparing your first infusion. The curing process is almost the same for both types of classic gourds, with only minor differences.

Here are the simple steps of curing your yerba mate gourd:

Step 1

Rinse the gourd with warm (not boiling) water for a few minutes. Do not use soap or any type of detergent as it could potentially ruin the container forever.

*If you are curing a calabash gourd, do not remove the bud on its bottom because it will later cause leakage.

Step 2

Take a spoon and gently scrape the inner walls of the gourd to remove any debris and tissue that comes off the gourd.

Step 3

Fill the gourd with used mate leaves, preferably moist. The best source is from a gourd that is already in use, but if this is your very time preparing mate you can soak the leaves in hot water for a few hours before putting them in the gourd. Do not add any water to the gourd. Leave it this way for as much as 24 hours.

*If you are curing a wooden gourd, rub the inner walls with a bit of salt before adding the leaves to disinfect them and prevent the creation of mold.

Step 4

The next day, remove the moist yerba leaves and rinse the gourd with warm water. Scrape the inner walls again and fill 3/4 of the gourd with fresh, dry leaves. Top those off with hot water and leave the gourd to sit like that for another 24 hours. The maceration process will remove the final splitting from the walls.

Step 5

Remove the yerba mate mixture from the gourd, rinse it thoroughly and pat it dry with kitchen towels. Leave the gourd in a warm, well-ventilated area overnight to evaporate the remaining moisture. Wooden gourds may take a little more time to dry off than calabash gourds.

Step 6

Your gourd is now cured and ready to use. Fill half of it with fresh, dry mate leaves while keeping the bombilla in a vertical position and near the walls. Pour hot water just enough to top the leaves off, and let everything steep for a few minutes. Do not stir or shake the gourd. Sip the delicious mate and refill with hot water whenever you run out of infusion. Enjoy!

If you’d rather watch a video telling you how to cure a yerba mate gourd properly, here’s a nice one:

How To Care For Your Yerba Mate Gourd

Knowing how to cure your yerba mate gourd is crucial, but not enough to ensure its long-term use. You have to keep an eye on its day-by-day condition to enjoy a tasty mate drink every time, but also to realize when it is time to replace it with a new one.

Fortunately, the maintenance of a yerba mate gourd boils down to two essential rules:

• Keep your gourd dry
• Use your gourd often

First off, it is important that you remove the yerba mate leaves after finishing your gourd. This could happen after 3-5 refills with hot water, which will create an intensely moist mixture in the container. If you fail to scrape it out, mold will appear on the inner walls and destroy the gourd forever. So, make sure that you scrape the used leaves and rinse the gourd with warm water before leaving it to dry.

Secondly, you should use your yerba mate gourd at least 2-3 times per week. If you rarely prepare a mate drink in it, the gourd will become too dry, which will create new splitting on its inner walls. Also, it can potentially develop cracks that will later cause leakage.

All In All

There you have it! Now you know how to cure your yerba mate gourd and care for it in the long run. You can now move on to experiment with different varieties of mate and discover the blend that best suits your taste.