Preparation wooden or pumpkin calabash.
Fill the mate cup to about 2/3 with yerba, and fill it with warm water. Then let it stand for a few hours or max. one night.
Because the wood, gourd or bamboo will absorb some water, it may be necessary to refill with water.
Afterwards, discard the yerba and the water, and scrape off and remove the remains of the pumpkin flesh with a spoon. And let dry quite well, in the open air (do not put in the cupboard !). The inside of the mate cup will have turned from green to dark green or even black. This color is quite normal, it is not rot.
Sometimes this procedure must be done a second time.
Mate preparation
- Fill the mate cup halfway with mate tea. Depending on your taste, you can use more or less mate tea.
- Cover the opening of the mate cup with your palm and then shake it. This will reduce the fine dust somewhat and your bombilla will then not clog as easily.
- Hold the cup so that there is an incline with the tea. At the lowest point, pour in some cold water. Let the tea steep for about 20 seconds so that all the air is extracted from the tea.
- Now pour hot water (70° - 85°C), up to about half of the mate cup.
- Place the bombilla (drinking straw) at an angle in the cup so that the strainer is at the bottom and surrounded by mate tea.
- Pour the mug with hot water until it is almost full. It doesn't matter if some leaves remain dry. You will surely get more water with the next rounds.