Yerba Mate Buying Guide

Gourd & Bombilla: The 'Traditional Method'

The special shape of the gourd compresses the yerba mate tea around the bombilla, allowing maximum nutrient extraction. The gourd and bombilla straw are fundamental, time-proven tools, which have benefited yerba mate drinking cultures for centuries.  

Easiest option is to buy a Yerba Mate Starter Kit or the all-in-one YerbaCup®. Please read on to discover the subtle important differences between the products. It is fun and easy to drink yerba mate like they have for centuries.

Choosing a Gourd (Mate)

The gourd compresses the yerba mate tea in order to create suction for nutrient extraction, and preserves the high level of nutrients. Artisans create each unique gourd from wood or a special squash. These ancient tools continue to serve as the perfect vessels for yerba mate. Indeed, they are married, as 'yerba' is the herb and 'mate' is the gourd. 

Wood Gourds:

• Great for both beginners and seasoned drinkers
• Easiest to keep clean
• Add a pleasant flavor to the yerba mate from their first use, whereas non-wood gourds require time to develop their flavor enhancing properties
• Flat base adds stability

Natural (Squash) Gourds:

• Best for seasoned mate drinkers
• Better than any other type of gourd at subduing the natural bitterness of yerba mate
• Create a unique and pleasant flavor over time by forming a “memory” of what the drinker likes
• Available in special shapes to maximize the benefits of drinking yerba mate Terere Style (Juice or cold water)
• Available in larger sizes for sharing with more people
• Need to be cured before use

YerbaCup® (all-in-one gourd):

• Easiest way to enjoy the traditional method
• All-in-one gourd, bombilla, and water chamber
• Convenient for travel or work

Choosing a Bombilla (Straw)

A yerba mate bombilla is more than just a "straw;" it acts as a pressurized extraction filter. Artisans create each bombilla with different characteristics.  It is easier to select a bombilla when you understand the role of shape, length, tips, filters, and materials.

Bombilla Shape:

• Straight bombillas are considered the most traditional and best way to honor the yerba mate; drink while looking down into the herb (a.k.a. meditative)
• Curved bombillas are considered the most helpful with staying engaged; drink while looking forward (a.k.a. mindful)

Bombilla Length:

• Long works best to keep the bombilla from becoming too hot on the lips
• Short works best with smaller natural gourds, providing better balance from its lower center of gravity

Bombilla Tips:

• Gold Tip: Function, not glamour! Gold protects the lips from the heat of the bombilla

Bombilla Filters:

• Spoon End Bombillas:
  • Extracts the most nutrients
  • Easiest to scoop the yerba mate out of the gourd when done
• Spring End Bombillas:
  • Easier to use with leaf-style blend ("sin palos" or "despalada") varieties
  • Do not clog as easily
  • Can be removed from a full gourd and easily reinserted without clogging
  • Work well even if the gourd of Yerba Mate is prepared poorly

Bombilla materials:

• Stainless Steel: Strong, durable, no need to polish
• Alpaca: Strong, durable, traditionally used metal, impressive shine with quick and easy dry rag, more detailed metalwork available from artisans.
• Cane: Strong, ancient tool.

YerbaCup® (all-in-one bombilla):

• Easiest way to enjoy the traditional method
• All-in-one gourd, bombilla, and water chamber
• Convenient for travel or work

Choosing the Best Yerba Mate

La yerba mate tea is a blend of yerba mate stems and leaves that are used in the gourd. The traditional "best" yerba mate blend contains approximately 12% yerba mate stems and 88% yerba mate leaf.  The stems help keep the bombilla from clogging and reduce the bitterness of the yerba mate. There are three common blends that one can buy: Traditional, Smooth, and Leaf-Style. Of course, one can buy all types of yerba mate additives with these blends. 

Traditional Blend: 12% Yerba Mate stems (also called "Con Palos"):

• Stems reduce bitterness
• Easy to prepare and use, as the stems protect the bombilla from clogging.
• Is available in many different flavors like orange, lemon, and grapefruit. 

Smooth Blend: 20% Yerba Mate stems (also called "Suave"):

• Is easiest to prepare and use, as the large stem content protect the bombilla from clogging.
• Large stem content further reduces bitterness
• Is available in many different flavors like other blends.
• Best for YerbaCup

Leaf-Style: less than 1% stems (also called "Sin Palos" or "Despalada"):

• Leaves contain the most nutrients.
• Stronger flavor
• Produces more compression around the bombilla, allowing for better nutrient extraction.

*Note: The strong, bitter flavor of yerba mate comes from the nutrients found in the leaves, making leaf-style blends the strongest tasting blends.  Although stems do not provide nutritional benefits, blends containing stems do not lessen the nutritional content. The difference in nutritional content between leaf-style and stem blends is so small it is considered insignificant.

Other Methods

Yerba Mate Tea Bags (Saquitas)

Small, 3 gram yerba mate bags are available for steeping in water. The experience of soaking 3 grams of Yerba Mate can not be compared to the Traditional Method's experience of extracting the nutrients from over 40 grams of compressed yerba mate. That being said, we often enjoy the flavor and subtle uplift that one gets from soaking even a tiny 3 grams of the precious herb in 8 oz of hot water.  Tea bags also serve as a great addition to refreshing iced tea blends!

Coffee Maker

The coffee maker is not able to extract as many nutrients as the Traditional Yerba Mate Method because it drips the water and does not use suction.  It also does not preserve the high level of nutrients as well as the Traditional Method.  Still, yerba mate has so many nutrients that the coffee maker can produce a nutrient rich drink.  Please be careful to use a filter that will not clog and make a mess of your machine. 

Taken as a whole, when you seek to buy the best yerba mate tea, it also involves choosing the best matching bombilla (straw) and gourd.  This includes finding the yerba mate method that best matches your lifestyle needs. Sometimes we sacrifice the "best" nutrient extraction method of the gourd and straw with a quick indulgance of a yerba mate tea bag.