Curing your gourd.
The purpose of ‘curing’ a gourd is to prevent it from breakage when pouring in the hot water during use. Gourds are mostly made out of vegetable products (wood, pumpkin calabash, etc...). Wooden and pumpkin gourds expand with water and contract when dry; therefore you have to treat your gourd to prevent any breakage.
How to cure a pumpkin gourd?
• Scrap the insides of the calabash (pumpkin) with a tea spoon to get rid of the skin. Be gentle and make sure you do not break the gourd.
• Put one or two spoons of yerba mate in your gourd and fill (to the top) with tepid water from the tap (not hot) leave it overnight. Use a cloth to dry any water on the outside of your gourd to avoid the color coming off.
• The next day, drain the water (do not throw the yerba mate away) add another tea spoon of yerba mate and fill the gourd with warn water from the tap. Leave it for the rest of the day.
• At night (or the next morning) use a spoon to remove and sloughed skin inside the pumpkin. Scrap it carefully and throw the contents of the pumpkin (water and yerba mate) away. Add 1-2 table spoons of yerba mate and fill the gourd with hot water from the tap. Make sure you dry any drops of water on the outside.
• The next day, throw the yerba mate and water away, scrap the gourd with a spoon, heat water in your kettle (turn it off before boiling) and add 1-2 table spoons of yerba mate, then add the water to the gourd, leave it for a day. After this you can rinse your pumpkin gourd and it will be ready to use!
A properly cured pumpkin gourd will not develop mould and will last a long time!
General comments on pumpkin gourds
• Do not leave your pumpkin gourd under the sun (e.g. a window), it will tend to dry and break
• Do not leave it with yerba mate sitting for days, it will grow mould
To keep your gourd nice and shinny, we recommend once a year to apply some oil on the outside to nourish the pumpkin and wood
Wooden gourds
Wooden gourds are more resistant than pumpkin ones. The downside is that you need add an extra step on the curing process and need to be careful when you do it. The harder the wood, the longer it needs to be treated. As a precaution, we suggest that if you have a very hard wood gourd (e.g. palo santo wood) you take 2-3 days on each step.
How to cure a wooden gourd?
• Coat the inside of the wood with butter and leave it for a day
• Rinse the butter with water (it does not matter if some is left over. Do not use soap!). Put one or two spoons of yerba mate in your gourd and fill (to the top) with cold water from the tap (not hot) leave it overnight. Use a cloth to dry any water on the outside of your gourd to avoid any stains.
• Throw out the yerba mate and water, rinse and put 1-2 spoons of yerba mate in your gourd, fill (to the top) with tepid water from the tap (not hot) leave it for the rest of the day or overnight. Use a cloth to dry any water on the outside of your gourd to avoid any stains.
• Throw the yerba mate and water, rinse and put 1-2 spoons of yerba mate in your gourd, fill (to the top) with warm water from the tap (not hot) leave it for the rest of the day or overnight. Use a cloth to dry any water on the outside of your gourd to avoid the stains.
• Throw the yerba mate and water, rinse and put 1-2 spoons of yerba mate in your gourd, fill (to the top) with hot water from the tap (not hot) leave it for the rest of the day or overnight. Use a cloth to dry any water on the outside of your gourd to avoid any stains.
• The next day, throw the yerba mate and water away, heat water in your kettle (turn it off before boiling) and add 1-2 table spoons of yerba mate, then add the water to the gourd, leave it for a day. After this you can rinse your pumpkin gourd and it will be ready to use!
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