Warning: this post will piss off a lot of Argentinians, Uruguayans, Brazilians, Paraguayans, and other traditional mate drinkers around the world…

When you first get into yerba mate, you’re bombarded with tradition.

Tradition that has a stronghold in the yerba mate realm, where if you don’t abide by the rules, you’re ostracized.

Maybe it’s not that serious, but some materos can take it there.

What if I told you though, that a lot of these traditional practices around yerba mate have no real use?

If your first gut reaction to that was to scoff at me, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

However, I know some of you are sighing in relief because you feel like doing everything the right way can be tedious. But you might do it anyway for the simple fact that you were told that that’s the ‘correct’ way.

Well, in this post, we’re going to break some of those rules.

Starting with…

#1. Curing The Mate Gourd

One of the first things you learn about as a beginner is how to cure a mate gourd. This practice is heavily rooted in tradition. Ask anyone in Argentina whether you need to cure your gourd and they’ll say yes 99% of the time.

But after years of drinking, it becomes more and more apparent to me that this (along with the other things below) aren’t as important as I was told.

Traditionally, you’re supposed to cure your calabash gourd before using it. There are many ways to go about this, but the most common is to steep the gourd in yerba and hot water for 1-2 days.

This is to ‘fortify’ the gourd preventing it from mold and easily breaking, as well as to enhance the flavor by removing the natural bitter material.

But although this is with all good intent, the truth is, the results are not what you’d expect.

You’ll barely notice a difference in your gourd’s strength or taste, rendering this tradition practically useless and unnecessary.

Because of this, I don’t cure my gourd anymore. I’ve stopped a long time ago, at least using this traditional method. Instead, I use my gourd straight the second I get it. Then, once I’m done with my mate, I let the yerba sit in the gourd til the end of the day before I remove it and scrape the walls of any extra material.

This produces the same effect as the traditional curing method. Except now I don’t have to waste yerba and wait 1-2 days before I can use my gourd.

#2. Shaking The Gourd

A common thing you’re taught to do when preparing yerba mate is to cover the gourd with your palm, turn it upside-down, and give it a shake to position the larger particles on the bottom for better filtration.

I’m sure we all heard about this.

But again, the truth is, it’s not necessary.

It’s only necessary for yerba mate with a finer cut such as those coming out of Uruguay and Brazil. But for Argentinian and Paraguayan yerba? You don’t need to.

As long as you have a quality bombilla, you shouldn’t run into any issues.

The only reason you may want to shake the gourd is to create a nice looking mountain of mate. But when it comes to filtration, there’s no relation.

#3. Wetting The Leaves With Cold Water

Another common thing you’re told to do when preparing mate is to wet the leaves with room temperature water before inserting the bombilla. Once done, then you can fill the gourd up with hot water.

You’re told if you pour hot water directly, you’ll burn or scorch the leaves, leaving an extremely bitter taste in your mate.

Sorry but I have to call BS on that.

The only exception is if you’re using freshly boiled water, then the leaves will definitely get burned. Trust me, I’ve done it by accident in the past when I knew no better.

I prepared a gourd the traditional way and even filled it with cool water first. But at the time, I was unknowingly using boiling water to steep my mate. And the second I poured it into my gourd, the leaves literally started crackling like a fireplace. So it’s definitely possible, but if your water is at a good temperature, you don’t have to worry.

And no, pouring in hot water (not boiling) first won’t cause a bitter taste. That bitter taste is just because it’s the first gourd. This is why it’s common for people in South America to sip and spit out this first gourdful because of how strong and bitter it is. And no, using cold water won’t make it any better either. If anything, it’s worse because now the mate is at room temp and it’ll taste just as bad as room temp coffee.

The only reason to perform this step is to help create a good mountain. Not to prevent a bitter taste or burning of the leaves.

#4. Not Touching The Bombilla

Touching the bombilla after it’s inserted into the gourd is to say a big f**k you to the cebador (server).

Traditionally, you’re not supposed to touch or move the bombilla because when you do, you ruin the filtration that’s been set in place along with the mountain of mate.

Touching it is seen as heresy.

However, this is not some hard and fast rule.

For example, when drinking Uruguayan and Brazilian mate, moving the bombilla is actually required if you want to get the most out of each session.

It’s not uncommon to completely remove the bombilla from the gourd midway into drinking so you can use it to shape the yerba for better filtration. This is also done to easily consume the rest of the unused leaves without potentially clogging the straw.

When it comes to Argentinian and Paraguayan mate though, this doesn’t apply. The leaves are large enough to easily filter throughout the entire mate.

Final Words 

Yerba mate traditions are a big part of the experience.

Despite what I’ve said in this post, I still follow it because that’s my personal preference. But this doesn’t mean it must be followed at all times or else you’re doing it wrong.

You can prepare and drink your mate any way you want.

You don’t have to follow the traditional method.

You can place your bombilla in first, fill your gourd with water, then top it off with yerba and go from there. You can even put the yerba in first, dig your bombilla underneath it, then fill your gourd with hot water. Heck, you don’t even need to use a gourd if you don’t want to. Use a mug. It doesn’t matter.

There are no rules here.

Just tradition.

Remember, the right way to drink yerba mate isn’t the traditional way, but the way that’s most enjoyable to you.

P.S. If you liked this post, you might want to check out our store for some untraditional items.