Do you have a hard time preparing chimarrao?
Then you don’t want to miss another word.
Whether it’s because you’re sucking up a bunch of powder or you’re bombilla is always getting clogged, it’s frustrating enough to make you want to throw your gourd at the wall.
But you’re not alone…
Even though I’ve been drinking yerba mate for years now, I’ll admit I still have trouble preparing chimarrao at times. And let me tell you, it makes me want to pull my hair out. Not only am I unable to drink it, but there’s almost no way of reviving it either.
If you don’t get it right from the beginning, there’s a 95% chance you’re gonna have to throw it all out. What’s worse, you need to use another gourd to start over because the one you used is now wet.
If you don’t want to risk going through the above, then you might want to grab this little contraption I’m about to show you called a Chimafacil.
Keep reading to find out why…
What’s A Chimafacil?
The Chimafacil is basically a plastic contraption with small holes in it that you place in your cuia (Brazilian calabash gourd) to help you prepare chimarrao with ease.
I didn’t hear about this product until a few months ago when I saw it on Instagram (follow us if you haven’t already). But considering how I’ve been drinking yerba mate for years, yet still have trouble preparing chimarrao, I can’t believe I didn’t get one earlier.
But enough of all that…
How does it work?
How To Prepare Chimarrao With A Chimafacil
Before we start, it’s recommended that you have a Brazilian cuia (click here now to get one from our shop) because if you use it with any other gourd, it won’t work properly.
And you’re about to see why.
Here’s how to use it…
Step 1:
Place the Chimafacil in the middle of your cuia to create two halves – one for water, one for your chimarrao. Today, I’ll be using the brand Ximango (Review).
Step 2:
Fill one half of your cuia to the top with chimarrao.
Step 3:
Fill the other half with hot water and wait 30 seconds for the chimarrao to soak it in, then fill to the top again. This helps solidify the chimarrao to form a wall of mate.
Step 4:
Rremove the Chimafacil from your gourd by slowly moving it side to side while pulling it straight up.
Step 5:
Grab your bombilla (or bomba), cover the mouth with your thumb, slide it all the way down the water half of your cuia, and twist to the side.
Step 6:
Sip and keep refilling when done!
If these instructions aren’t clear enough, watch this quick 28-second video to see how easy it is!
Does It Really Work?
On the surface, Chimafacil looks like a dream come true.
But does it really work?
Well, not 100% of the time.
Sure, you can prepare the chimarrao faster, the mountain of mate stays up perfectly, and you have a nice water hole, but this doesn’t mean you can always drink it.
Sometimes, the bombilla can still get clogged when you try your first sip.
However, this doesn’t happen anywhere near as often when you don’t have a Chimafacil.
The Chimafacil simply reduces the likelihood of it happening.
Plus, whenever it did happen to me, I was always able to shimmy my bombilla around to get it working again. Then, for the rest of the mate, it’s just smooth pure chimarrao.
Final Words
Although the Chimafacil isn’t a guaranteed way to preparing the perfect chimarrao every time, it does make it much easier (and faster) to do.
I used to hate preparing chimarrao the regular way.
The mountain of mate always fell apart, and that made it almost impossible for the bombilla to filter the powder. It would either not suck up anything, or if it did, it would be mostly powder.
But now after using the Chimafacil, I never have to worry about that.
Because the mountain of mate is perfectly made, the only thing left for you to do is position the bombilla in the perfect spot for pure filtration. It does clog at times, but if I just keep moving it around to test different positions, at some point it works.
So if you’re tired of not being able to drink chimarrao, you might want to try using a Chimafacil.
P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you might also want to check out our store because we offer yerba mate, mate gourds, and bombillas you’ll love.