How to Prepare Yerba Mate: A Beginner's Guide

Yerba mate is the daily ritual of Argentina and Uruguay, a caffeinated infusion drunk from a gourd through a metal straw, refilled round after round and passed from hand to hand. If you have just bought your first bag of yerba mate, the whole thing can look like a lot of equipment and a lot of rules. It is neither. Here is how to prepare it properly, from curing a brand new gourd to the last refill of the day.

What you need

• A mate gourd, the cup itself. Traditionally a dried calabash, also made in wood, glass or steel
• A bombilla, the metal straw with a filter at the bottom
• Yerba mate, such as Playadito, Taragüi, Canarias or Rosamonte
• Hot water, around 70 to 80 degrees, never boiling. A thermos keeps it there all afternoon

If you are starting from zero, our Playadito starter box has the gourd, the bombilla and a kilo of yerba together.

Curing a new gourd

A natural gourd has to be cured before its first mate. Fill it with yerba, top it up with hot water and leave it to rest for at least 24 hours. The walls soften, the pores take on the flavour of the yerba and the gourd seals itself. Then empty it, scrape the softened inner layer out with a spoon, rinse it and let it dry. From that point on it is ready, and every mate you brew in it will taste a little better than the last.

Wood needs the same 24 hours. Glass and steel do not: they have no pores to season, so you can use them straight out of the box.

Step by step

1. Fill the gourd about halfway with yerba. More yerba means a stronger mate. Half is a good place to start, and you can push it to two thirds once you know how you like it.
2. Cover the opening with your hand, turn the gourd upside down and shake it a few times. The fine dust ends up on your palm instead of in the bombilla, which is what stops the straw from clogging later. Turn it back and tilt the yerba so it rests at an angle, leaving a hollow on the low side.
3. Pour warm water, around 40 degrees, into that hollow, about a quarter of the gourd, and let it soak for two minutes. The leaves swell gently instead of being scalded, and the mate stays sweet for many more rounds.
4. Add hot water, 70 to 80 degrees, up to about half the gourd.
5. Slide the bombilla down the damp side until it reaches the bottom. Then leave it exactly where it is.
6. Top up with hot water almost to the rim, and drink. Some leaves on the far side will still be dry, and that is the point: they come into play later and keep the flavour going.

One rule holds all of this together. Once the bombilla is in, do not stir it or move it around. Every time you do, wet powder is pushed into the filter and the straw blocks up.

Keeping the flavour going

Refill the same low side, sip it dry, refill again. One gourd of yerba is good for many rounds. When it starts tasting washed out, what Argentines call lavado, nudge the yerba across so the dry leaves on the other side get their turn, and you get a second life out of the same fill.

The first mate of your life will taste peculiar, and a bit bitter. That is normal, and it passes quickly. Some people add sugar, mint or a strip of orange peel; in most of Argentina it goes amargo, no sugar at all.

Looking after your gourd

Empty the yerba after every use and rinse the gourd and the bombilla with water. Then stand the gourd to dry with the opening facing up. Leaving it upside down is the classic mistake: the moisture stays trapped inside and the gourd goes mouldy within days. A gourd that is emptied, rinsed and dried the right way up will last you years.

Which yerba to start with

Strong blends like Rosamonte give a bolder, smokier mate. Playadito and Taragüi are smoother and more forgiving for a first bag, and Canarias is the Uruguayan style, finely ground and drunk in a wider gourd. Browse all four on our yerba mate page, or pick some up at the Cookiebar in Amsterdam.