How to prepare mate and enjoy its many benefits*?

How to prepare mate in the traditional way?

The charm of the bombilla and calabash for a little daily ritual

To enjoy mate in the traditional way, two accessories are essential: the mate pot, also known as a calabash, and the bombilla, a stainless steel or bamboo straw that allows you to drink the infusion while filtering out the leaves.

Should you prepare your new calabash gourd before using it for the first time?

If you have just purchased a new mate pot, it is essential to cure it for two days beforehand. This step, similar to seasoning a clay teapot with tea, consists of preparing your calabash for infusion to improve its taste.

To do this, fill your mate cup ¾ full and then pour hot water to the brim. Leave it to rest for 48 hours, topping up when the water level drops below the rim. Empty the calabash and use a small spoon to gently scrape off any impurities that come loose from the sides. Your calabash is now ready to use!

What are the steps for preparing mate?

Step 1: Fill your mate pot ¾ full with green mate. Press the palm of your hand over the opening and turn it upside down several times so that the fine mate particles rise to the surface and do not clog the bombilla.

Step 2: Gently tilt the calabash so that the mate leaves form a pile on one side and place the bombilla on the empty side. Once in place, the straw stays in place. It is not used to stir the mate, but only to drink while filtering the infusion.

Step 3: Pour cold water into the hollow part until it is half full. The leaves will begin to swell and hydrate.

Step 4: Pour simmering water (95°C) around the bombilla from the bottom up to ¾ of the way up, taking care to leave some dry leaves, and drink this first infusion, which will be the most bitter compared to the following ones.

Step 5: You can repeat the process as many times as the infusion has flavor. As the infusions progress, the leaves at the top are infused in turn. The touch of bitterness (typical of the presence of caffeine) fades to give way to sweeter, vegetal flavors with notes of blond tobacco.

Traditionally, the person who prepares the mate takes care to fill it and pass it around to their guests, each drinking from the same container with the same bombilla. Prepared in this way, the same mate can be used for a dozen infusions or more, until it no longer has any taste.

Step 6: To clean your calabash, empty the mate (into compost if possible), rinse it with warm water without soap, then simply leave it to dry. Do the same for the bombilla.

The drying step is important because the calabash, which comes from a dried and hollowed-out cucurbit, can crack or mold if it remains damp, which would affect the taste of your infusions. Its porous material retains some of the aromas, so it is best to only infuse plain mate or a single family of flavored mate.

Can mate be prepared in a traditional teapot?

Rest assured, it is possible! If you don't want to invest in traditional accessories, all types of mate can also be prepared in a mug or teapot.

In this case, we recommend using 2 grams per 25 cl of water at 95°C and steeping for 5 minutes. You can steep it several times by adding water to the teapot throughout the day. It will lose its bitterness with each subsequent steeping. For a less bitter infusion from the outset, you can reduce the water temperature to 80°C.

DISCOVER HOW TO PREPARE MATE IN THIS VIDEO!

Digestive Mate Mocktail, a recipe that is as delicious as it is stimulating!

Following the traditions of the Mapuche people of southern Chile, who often enjoy mate with medicinal plants, Maté Digest combines mate, nana mint, and licorice. A touch of freshness and roundness, with properties that are particularly welcome at the end of a meal (digestive for mint and draining for mate*).

Steps for preparation:

1. Take 3 tablespoons of Maté Digest for 1/2 liter of simmering water (95°C). Steep for 5 minutes and strain.
2. Pour into a jug filled with ice cubes and add 1/3 organic lemonade with agave syrup.
3. Add lemon slices or fresh mint leaves to taste!

How is our maté dried and processed? Discover the steps involved in the artisanal process

Proper drying and processing are essential to obtaining a quality product and a satisfying tasting experience. Our Brazilian partner follows a clear and rigorous process that ensures a consistent, high-quality mate over time.

Immediately after harvesting, the yerba mate leaves are packed into bundles called "ponchos." These are unloaded and the leaves are first placed on a conveyor belt that carries them to a type of oven called a "sapecador." The leaves are exposed briefly but intensely to a temperature of 350°C for 1 minute 30 seconds. This first step stops the oxidation of the leaves and fixes their characteristic green color. The conveyor belt then transports the leaves to a dryer where they are dried for about 3 hours at a temperature between 90°C and 120°C.

This removes any residual moisture. Once dried, the leaves are packed in raffia bags before moving on to the next stages of the process.

The leaves are then sifted to separate them from the stems. They are then crushed before being sorted and stored by size in raffia bags again.

From there, the leaves can be roasted or not, depending on customer needs and demand. Roasting brings out more pronounced flavors.

Finally, the last step of processing produces mate that is ready to drink. This involves carefully blending the different sizes of leaves obtained after grinding in clearly defined proportions. This step gives our partner producer's mate its distinctive flavor and aroma.

Finally, the yerba mate leaves, which have been cleared of any foreign bodies, are packaged in bags, which are then placed in secondary packaging, sealed, weighed, and labeled before passing through a metal detector once again. The bags are then palletized or placed in containers, ready for shipment.