How to prepare mate the Argentinian way: Pedro's step by step guide

I grew up in Argentina passing a mate gourd around the table before there was a coffee machine in the house. Most guides online skip the small details that make the drink work. This is the version an Argentinian would recognise.

What you need

Curing a new gourd (first use only)

If you bought a traditional calabash gourd, cure it before drinking. Skip this if you have ceramic or wood.

1. Fill the gourd with used yerba (spent leaves from someone else's setup).
2. Fill with warm water. Leave for 24 hours.
3. Scrape out the soft interior flesh with a spoon. Rinse.
4. Repeat once more with fresh yerba if the gourd still smells raw.

The gourd absorbs flavour permanently, so cure it with good quality yerba (never sweetened or flavoured).

The preparation, step by step

1. Fill three quarters. Pour dry yerba into the gourd until it is about three quarters full. Do not over pack.
2. Cover the opening. Place your palm over the top.
3. Invert and shake. Turn the gourd upside down and give it a gentle shake. This settles the powdered dust (polvo) into your palm rather than the bombilla.
4. Tip sideways. Return the gourd upright but tilted at 45 degrees. The yerba should form a slope, with a bare curve at the low end.
5. Wet the low corner first. Pour cool or lukewarm water (never hot) into the exposed corner. This wets a small section of leaves gently, preserving the flavour compounds that hot water would otherwise strip out in one go.
6. Insert the bombilla. Push the bombilla into the wet corner with your thumb over the mouth. Once seated, do not move it. Rearranging the bombilla clogs the filter.
7. Add hot water. Pour water at 70 to 80C into the same corner. Do not soak the whole slope. The dry side is your reserve for later refills.
8. Drink the whole serve. Each serve is small (60 to 80ml). Drink it all through the bombilla, then refill and pass.

Water temperature: the one thing everyone gets wrong

Boiling water burns yerba mate. It makes the drink harsh, bitter and (according to the WHO) elevates oesophageal cancer risk. The correct temperature is 70 to 80C. In practice:

• Turn off the kettle when it starts to hiss but before it whistles.
• Or boil, wait 90 seconds, then pour.
• Or use a thermometer if you are precise.

For more on the temperature research, see our yerba mate health article.

The ritual: how a round works

Mate is drunk in company. One person, the cebador, prepares the gourd and refills it. That person drinks the first serve themselves (it is the strongest and often unpleasant, so this is a courtesy). Then they refill and pass it to the next person, who drinks the entire serve and passes the empty gourd back to the cebador.

The cebador role

The cebador watches the water temperature, refills promptly, and rotates around the circle in the same order. If someone hands you the mate, you drink it silently, hand it back and wait for your next turn.

Etiquette that trips up foreigners

• Do not say gracias unless you are finished. Gracias means you are opting out of the round. If you still want more, hand the gourd back with a nod.
• Do not stir with the bombilla. This clogs the filter and marks you as a beginner. The straw stays where the cebador placed it.
• Do not wipe the bombilla. Passing mate around a group is a trust thing. Wiping the straw is considered rude in traditional settings (though acceptable at home during flu season).
• Do not sip slowly. Draw the serve down in a few sips and return the gourd. Holding it while you chat holds up the round.

Common problems and fixes

Variations across the region

Every South American country drinks mate differently.

• Argentina. Hot water, bitter (amargo) or with a little sugar (dulce). Most common variant.
• Uruguay. Similar to Argentina but with even larger thermoses. Uruguayans are the world's heaviest mate drinkers per capita.
• Paraguay. Terere. Ice water instead of hot. Often with medicinal herbs (yuyos) added to the water.
• Southern Brazil. Chimarrao. Uses a much finer, greener yerba and a larger gourd.

FAQ