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     How to cure a Yerba Mate Gourd

The name "Mate" derives from the quichua word "matí" that names the gourd that is traditionally used to drink the infusion. The Yerba Mate Cup most commonly used, is a gourd of the Lagenaria Vulgaris, a climbing plant, which grows in the same region as Yerba Mate. 

The gourd is put to dry and hollowed out. Composed of 90 percent water, the gourd must go through a process of evaporation outdoors for about three or four months. 

In the drying process, the gourd will lose its fleshy membrane, leaving it hollow. They also lose much of their color. When dry, the hard-shelled gourds are almost as hard as wood.

Yerba Mate's cups or vessels are divided in two categories: "curable" and "uncurable".

Uncurable mates are those made of wood or non-porous materials (glass, metal, china, etc.)

The curing process is divided into two steps: before the first use (or proper curing) and the curing that results from the everyday use of the gourd with only one kind of infusion (for example pure mate with no additives).

The proper curing has two purposes: the removal of the inner soft tissues and the adaptation of the gourd to the particular kind of infusion.

GOURDS WITH METAL RIM :

For the removal of soft tissues, fill the gourd first with yerba mate and add boiling water with both being just   below the lower part of the metal rim line. 

The reason you do not fill the gourd above the rim line is to allow for it to expand and seal tightly with the rim. If you put the water above the rim line when you cure it, your gourd will, more than likely, leak although it may stop after two or three days use because of the continuing expansion of the gourd and the sealing of the rim as we said above.

It is better to use pure yerba mate and not yerba mate that was used with sugar because the latter decomposes easily. 

Let the liquid settle for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, 1/4 of the water level will have gone down. Fill the gourd up with boiling water again to the same line as stated above.

Let it settle down for 24 Hours. 

Next day, remove the yerba, rinse the gourd and gently scrap away the soft tissue using a spoon or something similar. 

Please do not remove the stem in the center of the gourd. Doing so will cause the gourd to leak.

GOURDS WITHOUT METAL RIM :

Use the same procedure as above except you can fill it to the top with both yerba and boiling water.

The "curing" process has to be done only once when you first get a new gourd.

GOURDS THAT STATE THEY ARE ALREADY CURED :

You will not need to go through the complete curing process with these types of gourds. 

These gourds have already been cured using a different method than the ones above. 

These have had most of the fleshy membrane burned out with fire. 

We do recommend, however, that you put boiling water "only" in the gourd for at least 30 minutes to an hour and then gently scrape the inside to make sure "all" of the membrane has been removed. 

However the mate will retain a smoky taste for the first several uses. It will disappear altogether in time. 

If you want to reduce this taste, it would help to put boiling water in it for several hours.

Pour out the water and sit it in the sun to dry. This should take away most of the smoky taste.

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After you have finished using your gourd for the day, it is very important that you rinse it well with warm water
(no soap, please) and let it thoroughly dry overnight. If you do not follow this procedure, a mold will grow 
inside of the gourd. This mold will not harm you in any way nor will it make your gourd unuseable. If it does form 
on the inside of the gourd, just rinse it well and sit it out in the sun for several hours.

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Learn how to brew yerba mate the traditional way - Slide Show