What is Mate made of?

Natural Mate's

As their name suggests, these are made from natural materials, so it's important to cure them before their first use. Let's review the types of mates or gourds of this kind available on the market.

Wooden Mate 

The wooden mate can be made from palo santo, oak, carob, caldén, orange, or quebracho. Like other mates made from natural materials, it must be cured, but I'll tell you more about that in another article on how to cure a wooden mate.

There are different types of wooden mates, and I advise you to choose one made from hard material, such as carob, and to ask for those that do not contain aromatic traces so they do not interfere with the taste of the yerba mate.

Gourd Mate 

This is the most commonly used type of mate among consumers of this infusion, and the Guarani already used this material to make their mates when they discovered Ilex Paraguariensis. There are different shapes ("torpedo," "galleta" or "colonial," "poro," "camionero"), and they often have silver details that enhance their status.

So, if you want to give a mate as a gift and make a good impression, give a gourd mate. In fact, nowadays there are many stores that personalize mates with special carvings or engravings.

The gourd mate is ideal for those who want the yerba to last longer, as it can hold more yerba, which takes longer to wash out. However, it does use a lot of yerba.

Bone, Guampa, or Aspa Mate

These mates originate from the humid pampas region in Argentina, and after gourd mates, they were and still are the most typical mates in the countryside. If you don't know they are made of bone, at first glance, you might think they are made of marble, and their shape easily stands out from others.

This type of mate needs to be cured (I'll tell you here how to cure a bone or aspa mate), and their base is made of hard wood, such as quebracho or palo santo, while the body is made from the horn of cattle or deer.

Cane Mate 

This is one of the oldest types of mates, made from bamboo or tacuara cane. They have very basic designs and are not usually very sophisticated in terms of craftsmanship details, like those made of gourd or wood. At most, they may have burn marks on the base or the upper end.

Cane mates offer something that the others do not: some are long and have a division in the middle, allowing you to make sweet mate on one side and bitter mate on the other. This way, the taste of one will not "contaminate" the subsequent servings on the other side.

Cane mates are cheap and easy to carry anywhere since they are narrow. However, they are not usually a good option for everyday use because they tend to crack after a while. In other words, they have low durability.

Synthetic Mate

Ceramic or Porcelain Mate 

These are very old and considered collector's items. Their origin dates back to the European immigration of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Europeans who arrived during those years were accustomed to drinking coffee or tea in porcelain or ceramic cups and found it inappropriate to drink mate in anything not made of those materials.

Therefore, they commissioned ceramic or porcelain mates to introduce themselves to the local mate culture. Their designs are very striking and carefully crafted. Among the models, the "angelito mate" (photo) stands out, as it features the figure of an angel holding it.

In recent years, various companies have been dedicated to manufacturing ceramic mates, referencing these 'angelitos' but in the shape of metal mates (which I will tell you about below).

Until 1940, porcelain or ceramic mates were imported from Europe, but starting in that decade, these materials began to be produced in Argentina. One of the pioneering local brands in these mates was "Qué Rico." If you have one of these, it's best not to drink from it and to store it properly to preserve it.

Silicone Mate 

In recent years, they have become very popular. On one hand, because they offer a more striking design than the traditional gourd, and on the other, because their size makes them easy to carry anywhere. They are flexible and therefore unbreakable and undeformable.

Another advantage of the silicone mate is its easy cleaning. It doesn't matter if you add herbs, fruit peels, or use flavored yerba; those flavors will never carry over to the next serving since it doesn't retain flavors.

They are very trendy in the offices of Buenos Aires, a market more open to new trends in mate. "When we launched it, there weren't many designer mates or mates with this emptying system, only a few plastic ones," Laura Cherny, co-creator of Mateo, the first silicone mate on the market, told this outlet alongside Nicolás Demarco.

She continued, "The mate was ideal for silicone, which can be unmolded, doesn't harbor bacteria, and is non-stick, plus other properties we discovered while designing it".

Glass Mate 

It is one of my favorites. The glass mate doesn't need to be cured, is easy to wash, and doesn't contaminate the taste of the yerba mate.

That's why it is widely used for sweet mates and tereré, as it doesn't inherit the taste of previous servings, allowing me to better distinguish the flavors of each yerba I evaluate.

These types of gourds are made from tempered glass and can come in various shapes and sizes. Among the cons, I can mention its fragility. If you drop it, it might break, which is a bummer; and if you accidentally pour boiling water into it, it might crack, which is dangerous for the drinker.

Steel Mate 

Among all types of mates, this is my second favorite. Mainly because they best preserve the flavor of the current yerba. Unlike gourd or wooden mates, there are no remnants of yerba or added sugar, honey, or sweetener from previous uses.

They can be made of stainless steel or silver. Another advantage of this type of mate is that they last longer than others, such as gourd or wooden mates. Additionally, they are more resistant to falls, corrosion, or rust.

The only downside I can think of with this type of gourd is that if the water is too hot, it can wash out the yerba more quickly than with other mates. On the flip side, they are ideal for serving mates outdoors as they better retain heat inside the mate.

Metal or Tin Mate 

Among the various types of mates, metal or tin mates are among the cheapest. One of the good things about them is that they are small and can be easily carried anywhere without taking up much space.

The downside is that they hold less yerba than other types of mates, which means it will wash out faster or shorten the longevity of the yerba. Another characteristic is that they have one or two "ears" from which to hold them, as the temperature of the water heats up their body very quickly.