How to prepare mate

Like any good meal, enjoying a good mate requires proper preparation. If you ask different people, you will see that everyone has his recipe for success. We will give you ours.

Step 1. Fill a thermos with warm water

For this, you can use an electric kettle or a simple pan. It does not matter as long as you can control the process and not bring the water to boil. You want the water to reach around 80 degrees Celsius but not to be too hot. Otherwise, you risk to “burn” your yerba mate. This would harm the taste of the mate.

Step 2. Fill your calabaza with yerba

Fill three-fourth of your calabaza with yerba. Some people will fill it only to the half. Here you will have to figure out what is best for you.

Step 3. Shake it

Place your palm on the opening of the calabaza, flip it upside down, and give it a good shake. As you may know, the yerba is composed of three components, the stems, the leaves, and the powder. By shaking the yerba, you will move the small components to the top of the calabaza and the bigger ones on the bottom. This way, your bombilla does not risk getting clogged. At the end of the process, the yerba dust should leave a green circle on your hand.

Step 4. Tilt the calabaza and add tepid water

When you are done shaking the calabaza, try to tilt it 45 degrees so that the yerba lies on one side. Add room temperature water up to the half into space you just created. This will prepare the yerba to receive the warm water. Let it rest for about 1 minute.

Step 5. Place the bombilla

Place the bombilla in the calabaza on the same side of the where you previously poured the water. With a digging motion, be sure to press until you reach the bottom of the gourd. You can as well press the yerba a bit with the bombilla to further amplify the two different layers of the yerba, i.e. the higher dry part and the lower wet part.

Step 6. Add warm water

You can now add warm water (remember not to boil it) to the calabaza. Some people like to pour it directly into the bombilla. You can pour the water almost all the way up and leave a bit of dry yerba mate at the top.

Step 7. Enjoy your mate!

You can now enjoy your perfect mate. You will notice that the first sip contains a good amount of dust and is quite bitter. Some people will spit it out. We let you try and decide for yourself. As you know, mate is often shared among friends, and the same calabaza can be refilled around twenty times. Drink it, refill it and pass it!