Homegirl On How To Prepare A Guayaki Yerba Mate Gourd

I blog at http://www.homegirlblog.com

I received a very generous amount of Yerba Mate products after covering one of their events at SXSW in the spring of 2011. You are about to witness my first prep & sip using the Mate (mah-tay) gourd. You're supposed to make it in the morning and keep adding hot water and sip several gourds-full per day for the health benefits. I call it my hippie-sippie.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Guayaki
• yerba
• mate
• gourd
• bombilla
• loose
• leaf
• tea
• steep
• How-to
• Yerba Maté

[random1112]

Hey! It seems to me that you didn't cure the gourd before using it... to do so, you should soak the gourd with yerba for about a day or two, changing the water every 4-6h. Then you can scrape out the loose insides of the gourd. I think it helps to prevent the gourd from going bad. Enjoy the mate! :)

[HomeGirlBlog]

@random1112 Thank you for sharing that! I actually did cure it according to the directions, but the inside was so fibrous! I scraped a good deal of the bits out, but was afraid to over scrape, if that makes sense. lol It's still in great shape though. Thanks for watching.

[shamanhealer2012]

Mi love Mate!

[HomeGirlBlog]

@shamanhealer2012 lol. Thanks!

[warrbarrt]

nice smile I love that gourd!

[HomeGirlBlog]

@warrbarrt lol. Thanks! Yes, the gourd is lovely!

[micadew]

yerba shwaqq'

[HomeGirlBlog]

@Kehmist Thanks for answering. And thanks for watching!

[HomeGirlBlog]

@FaustoBilly Hi! Sorry for the late reply. They say to soak the leaves so they won't be scorched by the hot water. It affects the flavor of the tea if it's not already damp before steeping it in steaming hot water.

[Kehmist]

@FaustoBilly To preserve flavor and nutrients from the hot water.