I am back from the local spanish grocery, where I bought a bag of Taragui yerba mate. It is a complete set (edicion limitada written on the cardboard box) that includes a bag of yerba, a mate and a bombilla. Everything was $9.99.
The mate is made with a small carved pumpkin (or something similar) and it has a silver collar.
On the box there are suggestions on how to "cure" the mate (I guess before using it...
I don't speak spanish, so can anybody confirm if my translation makes any sense ? Here it is:
1. Fill the mate with yerba and wet it completely
2. Let it rest for two days while keeping the yerba moist
3. After two days, empty the mate by scratching all the yerba from the inside
4. Repeat this operation three more times
During the process, make sure the yerba is not fermenting because this may cause the mate to assume a bad flavor.
The mate is made with a small carved pumpkin (or something similar) and it has a silver collar.
On the box there are suggestions on how to "cure" the mate (I guess before using it...
I don't speak spanish, so can anybody confirm if my translation makes any sense ? Here it is:
1. Fill the mate with yerba and wet it completely
2. Let it rest for two days while keeping the yerba moist
3. After two days, empty the mate by scratching all the yerba from the inside
4. Repeat this operation three more times
During the process, make sure the yerba is not fermenting because this may cause the mate to assume a bad flavor.
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Los Angeles
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Re: Brand new mate
Mon, March 1, 2004 - 4:15 PMi think Giovanni, you got an excellent price.. how much herb is your mate-bag?
Taragui is good, in a sense that it gives one of the strongest brews..
"Your goal is to cure the gourd so that the water no longer penetrates the gourd. Any natural product that takes on water is going to take on character. "
ma-tea.com/gourds.htm
"Wood gourds hardly ever develop the moisture mold. Traditional gourds, however, if allowed to remain moist for too long, will develop a natural mold. Often this happens during the curing process. Do not be alarmed, the gourd can be easily cleaned. NEVER USE SOAP. NEVER USE DETERGENT. The majority of yerba mate drinkers merely use boiling water to destroy the mold."
ma-tea.com/gourds.htm -
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Re: Brand new mate
Mon, March 1, 2004 - 4:42 PMThanks for the quick advice :)
The yerba is already soaking, I don't think I will be able to wait all that time without drinking some...
I wasn't planning to use soap since the mate is porous. And I also do the same for my moka stove-top coffee maker that is alluminum!
The bag is 500 grams (more or less 1 lb). I just found on the web the exact item:
store.amigofoods.com/taragui.html
This link has a better view of the gourd (it's identical to the Calabaza 705, but with a different decoration):
www.yerba-argentina.de/shopfa...06.html
I live in a neighborhood where there are quite a few spanish stores. This one had at least 10 different brands, in various sizes. Most of them seemed to be very cheap. Cruz de malta, for example was $1.50 for 500 grams.
Thanks again
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Re: Brand new mate
Thu, March 4, 2004 - 8:12 PMI am finally sipping from my new mate.
I don't know whether it will be good for me or not, but I do know I love the bitter taste.
:)
Too bad they are not very popular here (in the sens that not many people use them) but in Italy there is a category of liquors (amaro) that you drink after lunch, in order to help the digestion. They are typically very bitter and made with an infusion of herbs in alcohol. -
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Re: Brand new mate
Fri, March 5, 2004 - 11:02 AMI love almost everything that is bitter,
I like a herb called GENTIAN great digestive among other effects...
If you find that your Yerba Mate is way too bitter for your taste, one can always mix some honey and or STEVIA in it..
[you CAN infuse Mate into alcohol too]
``quant
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Re: Brand new mate
Fri, March 5, 2004 - 12:08 PMYes, I know Gentian, it is one of the components of the liquors that I was describing.
I like the bitter taste, I don't even sweeten my coffee (that being espresso is bitter).
I was thinking about infusing the mate with alcohol...
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Re: Brand new mate
Mon, March 8, 2004 - 8:56 PMHow do you do that, just soak them together?
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Re: Brand new mate
Wed, April 4, 2007 - 9:40 PMHello... have fun with your new gourd.
The gourd itself is in the same family as the pumpkin--but extremely bitter! If you try using it right away you might think the yerba is more bitter than it is.
You got the idea of the curing process: first rinse your gourd inside with warm water and remove any and all loose interior of the gourd with a spoon (this is the potentially really bitter stuff). Gourds are a natural product and may contain dried pulp--but this curing process will help clean the gourd--and inhibit mold growth as well. [Information from www.yerbamateteagourd.com/yerbama...ion.html ]
Fill completely with new yerba.
Fill to the top with warm water and let sit for an entire day.
Repeat the filling and cleaning two more times, clean out the yerba, and allow the gourd to dry completely.
As has been mentioned the gourd can mold if allowed to stay wet... but ours is almost always wet--as we let it sit overnight and clean it out in the morning for a new morning yerba. No mold problem unless we change mates and come back to it after a few warming and cooling periods.
More on mate mold and curing on our weblog www.yerbamateteagourd.blogspot.com
mucho gusto,
k
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Re: Brand new mate
Thu, April 5, 2007 - 5:41 AMGiovanni, are you sure it was an "spanish grocery"? or it was latinamerican? or argentinian?
Welcome to the mate drinkers tribe!!!
