Alexis · Fondateur d'YVY Maté
The mate gourd is the essential tool for drinking yerba mate. It's the vessel used to prepare mate, together with the mate bombilla.
So, what are the 6 steps of making an artisan mate gourd? And how long does it take?
The gourd's origins: farming and harvest
Mate squashes growing
The traditional artisan mate gourd comes from a fruit: the squash.
The best squashes are found in the fairly temperate climate of southern Brazil, in South America.
The first step of gourd-making is selecting a very sturdy squash. Wall thickness is a key strength criterion: between 1 and 2 cm for our artisan gourds, versus 0.2 to 0.5 cm for ordinary ones.
Size also matters in the selection: we want a squash suited to drinking yerba mate, holding between 200 and 500 ml. That means waiting 6 to 12 months to reach the perfect size.
After selection, the squash is cut, emptied and dried. As it dries, it hardens and takes on the resilient properties of wood. Drying takes around 6 months.
Now we can move on to the artisan work.
The artisan work
The artisan making process
Once the gourd is fully dry, our artisan moves on to the aesthetic and practical work. This step takes roughly 1 month.
Leather is fitted all around it to reduce heat transfer between the inside and our fingers. Beyond the practical side, there's the pleasant feel and the quality of the leather.
Next, we want to protect the mate cup's rim and thereby increase its durability, so the rim is banded in Alpaca (also called German silver) or stainless steel.
Leather feet are also shaped underneath the mate cup, improving its stability and keeping it upright.
Our artisan can also personalize mate gourds. We can add letters and crests on the Alpaca band, as well as motifs engraved into the leather.
To learn more, see our personalization page and our article.
Let's recap the steps of making an artisan gourd:
- Harvesting squashes in the temperate climate of southern Brazil.
- Emptying and drying the squash
- Artistic and practical craftsmanship, with:
- Fitting the leather
- Banding the "boca" in Alpaca
- Adding leather feet
- Personalization
Total making time, from first growth to personalization, runs between 13 and 19 months.
Take our Torpedo gourd: it takes around 13 months to leave the workshop, while our Imperiale gourd, larger and requiring detailed work, takes around 19 months.
The making time of two artisan mate gourds
Preparing your gourd before its first use
To increase your artisan gourd's durability, it must be prepared before its very first use through curing.
What is curing for?
Curing's purpose is to smooth the inside of the gourd. Before curing, the interior has a grainy texture. Smoothing it stops the yerba mate from seeping into it, and prevents residue from altering the taste of your organic mate.
The tannins in the yerba mate line the interior and have a waterproofing effect.
How to cure your artisan gourd?
We've prepared a tutorial to help you get all the information you need!
Caring for your gourd properly
Caring for your traditional gourd is very important for its durability - we want to avoid mold stains at all costs.
Moisture is its enemy!
After every use, be sure to empty the yerba mate fully and clean the gourd with hot water only.
Drain your gourd upside down for a few minutes so the water runs out, then let it air-dry.
Handle it carefully too - it's a fairly fragile object, and a bad fall can sometimes damage it.
