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passycafe says, "I've been happily steeping my plebeian yerba mate tea bags until I read that I'm all wrong. Seems I need a gourd, a bombilla, and mate that is a gazillion times better than my boxed stuff. Am I truly not enjoying it & not deriving any of its benefits?"
"For those who don't know," says SouthOCHound, "the loose leaf yerba mate is packed into the mate gourd; almost equal part sugar is added; scalding hot water poured over the concoction; and the drinker drinks through the metal straw with a filter on the end. There is something disconcerting (at least to me) about having to filter while one is drinking. Something about it seems so, ahem, primitive."
"I myself, a gringo American married to an Argentine, am perfectly content and perfectly comfortable in my own skin drinking mate cocido," says SouthOCHound—mate cocido being the stuff you might find in a tea bag. "The cocido thing to me is more about convenience and not having to explain to the uninitiated that this contraption is not a water bong. Also, the loose leaf product looks to the untrained eye strikingly similar to another more infamous herb (which may explain why many think the gourd is a bong). So I can brew mate cocido from work and no one is the wiser. The Argentines, however, are not so impressed. And there is an element to mate-through-the-bombilla that has less to do with the strength of the brew and more with how it is enjoyed."
p.s. I was taught to insert the straw (again also called bombilla) angled to the side of the bowl.....after a portion of refills, one carefully works the straw to the other side and continues, thereby a fresher in fusion. There is nothing like having a fresh fill of mate'.
Years ago I met and come to know a young Brazilian dentist interning here at a Cancer Center. (Someone said to fill the Bombilla half way with mate, half sugar, then boiling water. Whoa!! What country that is from I do not know!!) One fills half way with mate, inverts the gourd, taps the side to get fine to bottom, carefully inserts the metal straw (also called Bombilla [pronounced 'bombishia']....+READ
Years ago I met and come to know a young Brazilian dentist interning here at a Cancer Center. (Someone said to fill the Bombilla half way with mate, half sugar, then boiling water. Whoa!! What country that is from I do not know!!) One fills half way with mate, inverts the gourd, taps the side to get fine to bottom, carefully inserts the metal straw (also called Bombilla [pronounced 'bombishia']. Then water not to hot, never cold, never never boiling. There is an entire culture around how the mate is served and how it is initially offered. If the water were that hot, the guest would either instantly leave or shoot you. And never, never sweetened.-COLLAPSE
After spending much time in Chile and Argentina and years ago gave up my morning coffee and now only drink mate. When desparate I use the tea bags, like when traveling and don't want the hassle of disposing of the loose mate and dealing with a damp gourd. I can't wait to get home for a proper mate. It just isn't the same. The taste is not the same with a tea bag (cocido) as drinking mate from a...+READ
After spending much time in Chile and Argentina and years ago gave up my morning coffee and now only drink mate. When desparate I use the tea bags, like when traveling and don't want the hassle of disposing of the loose mate and dealing with a damp gourd. I can't wait to get home for a proper mate. It just isn't the same. The taste is not the same with a tea bag (cocido) as drinking mate from a well seasoned gourd and bombilla. A gourd develops the flavor of the mate and instead of a one note drink it become smoother and has more depth. Also I like mate con palo (with wood- it has pieces of stems) so it is less likely to clog up the bombilla and seems to have a more gentle flavor although the brand of mate may contribute. My favorite brand is Taragui con palo. I also agree that most natives would not put sugar in the mate. Its funny that at first i liked sugar in mate but within days my Argentine friends said, "Really gringa, stop with the sugar." They seemed so proud that I had conceded and become a true mate drinker by not using sugar. In later years I would catch some Argentines watching me prepare mate with a critical eye. Then complement and approve of me for not using sugar and say proudly, "you do it the Argentine way." Paul knows his mate rituals, all true.
A trick that I learned from an Argentine friend, if you enjoy a sweeter mate is to use a grapefruit like you would a gourd. Most would not do this regularly but it is kind of fun. Cut the top off a grapefruit and dig out some of the pulp to make room for the mate. Prepare the mate like you would with a gourd. Add sugar if you like, hot water (never use boiled water ,use temp used for green tea), and put the bombilla in and sip.
But anyway.... You need the bombilla if you are using a gourd. A bombilla wouldn't add anything to mate cocido. All the bombilla does is stop you from drinking the loose mate (tea) when using a gourd. It is the gourd that makes the mate better. And of course you with a gourd you use more loose tea than used cocida, therefore one could say you also get more of the long list of health benefits. I recently ran out of mate, gasp!! I only had cocido and put those in my gourd and drank with the bombilla. NOT the same, I couldn't wait until my taragui was delivered. My mornings were ruined!! It is best compared too using coffee teabags and a making a freshly brewed cup of coffee.-COLLAPSE
I have to agree with paulradagast on his ocmments,he's right on the money. Mate indeed is a social thing/ritual. Drinking mate through the bombilla and mate cocido are very different experiences, both are delicious. I drink mate cocido at work everyday, both for the convenience and because I enjoy the taste. In the summer when the garden is blossoming with herbs, I will add mint or mint and...+READ
I have to agree with paulradagast on his ocmments,he's right on the money. Mate indeed is a social thing/ritual. Drinking mate through the bombilla and mate cocido are very different experiences, both are delicious. I drink mate cocido at work everyday, both for the convenience and because I enjoy the taste. In the summer when the garden is blossoming with herbs, I will add mint or mint and wormwood to my mate cocido. On cold winter mornings I add milk and a bit of sugar for a sweet treat.
Either way, mate contains calcium (naturally) so I figure it is a healthy drink. My Mom drinks mate all day long, she is 76 years old and very healthy. She takes no medications and can't live without her mate, whether she has friends to share some with or sipping away quietly by herself.
Mate-COLLAPSE
I have to say that I have tried mate cocido from time to time, but if your looking for the experience of drinking mate it is just not the same thing as drinking from a maté and bombilla. I agree with SouthOCHound that maté cocido is about convenience and that is exactly why I prefer the more traditional way. (Although my father and mother, who are from Argentina, would never put sugar in the maté...+READ
I have to say that I have tried mate cocido from time to time, but if your looking for the experience of drinking mate it is just not the same thing as drinking from a maté and bombilla. I agree with SouthOCHound that maté cocido is about convenience and that is exactly why I prefer the more traditional way. (Although my father and mother, who are from Argentina, would never put sugar in the maté gourd. My father would have to get a cure a new maté after that happened rather than have the sweetness get infused into the gourd.)
The rituals around having a maté are wonderful. It is a very social thing and even though I may not have anyone to share it with unless my side of the family is visiting, the rituals stay with me in my head. They are not as present when I drink it cocido.
Some of the ritual that I grew up with surrounding maté are as follows:
-There is generally only one maté for a group.
-One person is in charge of keeping the maté filled with water and passing it to the next person who wants it. (Yes, you are sharing the bombilla.)
-The person in charge has to keep track of who received the maté and in what order, so if someone gets up to talk to another person, don't forget what the original order was.
-Unless you don't intend to have more, don't say "thank you" when passing the maté back to the person with the kettle. "Thank you" indicates that you are done drinking maté and do not want any the next time it comes around.
Those are the things that stay in my head even if I'm drinking maté alone.-COLLAPSE