An Introduction to the Yerba Mate Gourd

Mate is the drinkable, tea-like beaverage made by steeping yerba mate leaves and twigs in water. A Yerba Mate Gourd is simply a cup traditionally used to drink the Mate tea. That's a very simplistic and not quite accurate way of explaining yerba mate gourds though, so this article is designed to help explain these unique drinking items in more detail.

The true, or original yerba mate gourd is actually part of a different plant. In regions where yerba mate is readily available, there's a climbing plant known as the Lagenaria Vulgaris, and this produces gourds as part of its growth. These gourds are then dried, hollowed out and cured in a special way, then used for drinking yerba mate tea.

Yerba Mate gourds can come in a variety of shapes. Some are shaped like pears and called poro, others have a more flat and round shape and are called galleta. The galleta style yerba mate gourd is said to be much harder to find, and these were traditionally used for the more bitter type of yerba mate tea while the poro was traditionally used for sweet Mate drinks.

Long ago yerba mate gourds were carved or painted by their owners to distinguish them from others. As time moved on however, and yerba mate gourds started being seen as luxury items, a whole new artform was born. Some yerba mate gourds were decorated with silver embellishments, and elaborate silver bases were made for the yerba mate gourds to sit on.

Some artists carved yerba mate gourds out of wood, while others created them from ceramic or various types of metal such as silver and steel.

Yerba mate gourds are normally used with a special straw, usually made out of silver, that's called a bombilla or bomba. This straw is uniquely designed to act as a strainer while drinking Mate. It has small holes or slits in it that allow liquid to pass through, while leaving the dried yerba mate material behind.

The yerba mate gourd bombilla isn't always needed with modern day tea bag style Mate available, however it's considered to be traditional and thus they're still widely used.

There are a variety of ways to make Mate, but all practice the actual making within the yerba mate gourd. In most cases, the dried and crushed yerba mate is placed into the gourd. Enough is added to fill the yerba mate gourd about one half to three quarters of the way full. Then hot but not boiling water is added.

In some countries additional herbs are added to the yerba mate in the gourd before adding the water. This is done for both flavoring and health related reasons.

Also before adding water to the yerba mate gourd, a seemingly complicated procedure is done to arrange the yerba mate material first. Part of this procedure involves covering the yerba mate gourd with your hand, turning it upside down and shaking it briefly. There are a few other steps involved, but the general goal is to get the smallest particles of the yerba mate around the outside area of the gourd, and to create a piled mound of the larger yerba mate parts. This helps to make sure no tiny particules of the yerba mate are drawn into the bombilla.

Once fully prepared, the yerba mate can be reused many times within the same gourd without loss of flavor.