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Curing 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 or vessel most commonly used, is a gourd of the Lagenaria Vulgaris, a climbing plant, which grows in several parts of the world. Always remember the gourd is a natural plant product.
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.
There are mate cups that don´t need to be cured such as those made of wood or non-porous materials (glass, metal, china, etc.)
The curing has one purpose : the removal of the inner soft tissues of the gourd. By removing the soft membrane it will insure that your first mate will not be so bitter. However if you want to use your gourd right away you don't have to cure it at all. The membrane will slowly be removed as you empty out the old mate and rinse with running water. The first couple of times the mate may have a more bitter taste by not curing it.
You may find on other web sites, books or booklets that you must use old yerba mate in the curing process. This is not entirely necessary as the gourd will finally get its proper taste after several uses of the mate.
GOURDS WITH METAL RIM :
Add boiling water 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.
So, let the boiled water sit for approximately 10 minutes. After this you may use a teaspoon and softly scrape the membrane out of the gourd under running water. If you have successfully removed the majority of the membrane you have completed the curing process.
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 boiling water.
The "curing" process has to be done only once when you first get a new gourd.
GOURDS THAT STATE THEY ARE ALREADY "PRE-CURED" :
Pre-cured gourds have been burned inside removing the majority of the soft membrane. This also leaves a smoky taste to the gourd which you may or may not like. Therefore you will need to only do the curing process one time.
The smoky taste will eventually go away the more you use the gourd.
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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 dry it out well with a paper towel. Put another dry paper towel inside the gourd and let it thoroughly dry overnight.
If the gourd isn't dried properly a mold may form inside. This will not harm you in any way nor will it make your gourd unuseable. All you will need to do is to rinse out the inside of the gourd with a little lemon juice, then plain water and let it sit out in the sun for several hours.
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Learn how to brew yerba mate the traditional way - Slide Show