Amount of Mate to Use
Adjust the ratio of mate to water to customize the taste and strength. Filling the gourd to the brim intensifies the flavor and aroma, while leaving space allows for water flow regulation. Personal preference plays a key role in adjusting the amount of mate to enhance your drinking experience.
Sharing Mate
The mate is put into the gourd and hot water is added by the pourer who then passes it to one of the drinkers. Traditionally, "Gracias" is said when no longer wanting mate. It’s respectful.
Equipment for Preparing Mate
Any machine used for coffee or tea will work. Use hot but not boiling water.
Traditional Gourds
The mate gourd was developed by the Guarani of South America. The traditional gourd is made from a calabash squash with a very hard shell. The gourd plant is Cucurbitaceae.
What is Mate?
Mate is made from the dried leaves usually drunk from a gourd by sucking through a metal straw. The tea goes in the gourd and hot but not boiling water is added. The pourer passes it around.
It contains PAH, a carcinogen also in grilled meat and tobacco. It has side effects to consider before drinking lots at once.
Mate Components
To make mate traditionally, use a gourd, loose leaves, and hot water with a bombilla. Calabash gourds are hardest to prepare due to a stem you must avoid. Wood, squash, and other materials are used too.
Mate is a bush with leaves for tea. Components are a gourd, bombilla straw, hot water, and loose leaves. Drink 2-3 times a day maximum, avoiding evening for caffeine reasons.
Drinking Mate
How do you drink mate from a gourd?
Mate is served with a metal straw in a gourd. The gourd is filled up two-thirds with loose-leaf mate. Give the gourd 2-3 good shakes to get the powder out as it can clog up the metal straw. Make a half-moon of mate sitting on the bottom of the mouth of the gourd and leave space at the top. Pour a small amount of cold water over the leaves to protect nutrients from hot water you’ll pour in. The metal straw strains the leaves so you can easily sip the brewed tea. Meet up in beautiful, calm nature to enjoy mate socially. Pass one gourd and metal straw between friends.
Adjusting Mate Strength
Put mate in your cup between 1/4 and 3/4 full. The amount depends on how strong a taste you want and how finely crushed it is. If there are no stems, put in less mate. Then cover it with 70°C to 80°C water. You can adjust the strength by using more or less mate. Filling the cup leaves less room for water flow regulation. Leaving space allows regulating water flow. Personal preference plays a key role in adjusting mate to enhance your drinking experience.
Storing Mate
The ideal temperature for storing mate in the gourd is 50-60°F. Its taste depends on temperature. Higher temperatures lead to more bitter flavor. Lower temperatures preserve its natural sweetness.
Mate Equipment
All you need is a gourd, loose leaf tea, hot water and your bombilla for filtering leaves from the gourd. Mate can be served in a gourd made from calabash gourd or cattle horn. The tea is put into the gourd and hot (not boiling) water is added. Traditionally "Gracias" is said when no more mate is wanted. It is a sign of respect.
Mate is Ilex paraguariensis. Cold, it is called tereré. Traditionally consumed in Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile. It was first cultivated and used by indigenous Guaraní and some Tupí communities before European colonization.
Boiling water harms mate and can burn your mouth! Use what you already have for coffee or tea to drink mate. Just never use boiling water.