Top & Best Cuia Review 2022 – How to Select Ultimate Buyer’s Guide
Top & Best Cuia: How to choose the best model in 2022?
Very welcome to mypricesaving.com. Today we are going to talk about curia, the container used to prepare and drink , mate tea and tererê, three very popular drinks, mainly in southern.
The formation is much more than just a drink, it is a cultural habit passed down from generation to generation. Sharing a gourd is directly linked to feelings of trust, collectivity and togetherness.
As there are several models of gourds available on the market, we recommend that you take into account some characteristics of each model such as shape, size, thickness and material.
First, the most important
- Before choosing a gourd to drink chimarrão, think about the number of people who will use it, as there are models in three sizes: small, for individual use, medium, for couples and large, for groups.
- There are bowl models with or without a support base. This piece, which can be a tripod or a leather base, can accompany the gourd or be purchased separately.
- To have a complete kit of chimarrão, in addition to yerba mate, you will need to buy a bowl and a pump. The bowl serves as a container and the pump as a straw with a filter, to suck only the drink and not the mate beans.
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Ranking: The 4 best cuia models
Now, we will present the best models of gourd. For this ranking we select the consumer’s favorites. They are cuias in different styles, materials of manufacture, prices and brands.
Buying Guide
Preparing chimarrão is almost a ritual for those from the south, so much so that it is tradition among family and friends to have a conversation and prepare the drink to be consumed during the meeting. That is why it is so important to choose a good gourd, as it is in this container that the drink is prepared and consumed.
What is a Cuia and where to use it?
How is a gourd made?
The traditional gourd is made of porongo, a fruit harvested in January, when it is already ripe, and which can be scraped by hand or with a steel brush. It must dry evenly and homogeneously before the beneficiation process.
If you pass the point, it may decrease in size. The porongo is in the yard where air circulates, so that it can dry without cracking or losing its characteristic smell.
Then, a hole is made in the center of the fruit, the soft bagasse is removed until it is completely extracted and only the hard part of the gourd is left. After that, polishing wax is applied to the gourd and it is spread evenly by a rotary motor.
See how this process is done:
How to cure the gourd?
It is necessary to do a preparation process before using the gourd. The first step is to fill it with water and ash from the fireplace or stove. This first process eliminates bacteria, fungi, mold and stiffens the hull.
This mixture must be completed whenever it is absorbed by the porongo, until the solution has been in contact with the gourd for about 24 hours. After that, it should be washed under running water and dried in the shade and wind for 72 hours.
In the last stage, two to three spoons of yerba mate and hot water should be placed to enjoy the pair of gourds. This process prevents it from cracking or cracking. Then let it dry for another 48 hours and repeat the process two or three times.
The process to leave a gourd well cured should take 12 to 15 days and it must not be exposed to the sun, it must never fall and whenever it is washed it must be dried with a cotton cloth.
There are other ways to cure the gourd, check out the video below:
How to keep your gourd?
The gourd must be preserved properly, otherwise it may alter or even sour the taste of the mate. It should never be used daily, always every other day, so that it can dry completely.
To dry the gourd it is important to place it in the shade in an airy place, never with your mouth down, so as not to create mold and mildew.
How is a chimarrão prepared?
The preparation of chimarrão is taken quite seriously in the southern region of the country. People gather in a circle and the mateador (who prepares the drink) is the first to drink as a sign of politeness (the first sip is very bitter).
Whoever keeps the thermos or kettle, usually fills the gourd and passes it to someone else, starting to share the drink. The person who passes the cuia also warns that the others must “make the cuia snore”, that is, drink the entire infusion.
Ideally, the chimarrão water should be hot, never boiling, so as not to change the taste of the herb. After drinking the chimarrão, the person must refill the gourd and pass it to another person always with the right hand (passing with the left hand is a sign of lack of education).
The more people drink the chimarrão and change the water, the better it gets.
Check now a table with the main advantages and disadvantages of porongo gourd:
Types of gourd: Which to choose?
The gourds can be different from each other in size (small, medium or large), in shape (more tapered or round) and even in the material of manufacture of the piece, although most are porongo.
There are two types of gourds: Uruguayan and Gaucho. Uruguayan cuia is widely used in Uruguay (hence the name) and Argentina, while the gaucho is typical.
The torpedo cuia is not much different from the coquette, but it does not need support, as it has a square shape and can be supported without falling and breaking. In the aesthetic aspect it is a little inferior.
Already the cujeta gajeta is made of thick porongo and is ideal for those who consume chimarrão alone. Because it is short, this gourd allows consumption before the water cools. It does not need support to support and it is very easy to handle this model.
Cuia Gaúcha
The gaucho gourd is the ideal model for those who want to share the chimarrão on friends’ wheels, because the great differential of this model is the size, which is larger than the other types of gourds.
The gaucho gourd can be sophisticated and personalized, with a refined finish or in a rustic and classic style. For chimarrão lovers, the gourd is almost an extension of a person’s personality.
Another drink that is also prepared in a bowl, made with yerba mate and is popular in southern Brazil is tererê. But, these drinks have some differences, the main one being the temperature, while the chimarrão is hot, the tererê is cold.
In addition, chimarrão is served pure and tererê is combined with other ingredients, from other herbs such as mint and lemongrass, fruits like lemon and even juice. These ingredients are added to make the taste less bitter.
But, the main difference between the drinks is the gourd used in the preparation. While in chimarrão the gourd of porongo (or other material) is used, the gourd of tererê is made based on an ox horn.
We list the main differences and similarities between the gourd of chimarrão and that of tererê in the table below:
How much?
Where to buy?
Purchasing criteria: Factors to compare the different Cuia models
When preparing chimarrão you should buy yerba mate, a kettle or thermos (if you are going to consume the drink in group), a pump that serves as a straw and strain the tea and a bowl. Pay attention to the following details when choosing the gourd:
- Workpiece material
- Format
- Size
- Thickness
We will explain each one of these items, that way you don’t have any doubts and choose the right bowl to prepare your chimarrão.
Workpiece material
In addition to the traditional porongo, gourds can be made of other materials such as baked clay, porcelain, glass, plastic and wood, but none of these materials can make chimarrão as tasty as porongo.
However, some people replace traditional gourds with other materials such as ceramics, because the porongo is porous, absorbs a lot of moisture and this can stimulate the proliferation of bacteria.
Format
The shape of the gourd is generally cylindrical and tapered, so that the pump can filter the water without pulling the weed, but some also have a different shape, more round and smaller (in coquinho).
See what a gourd in a coquette style looks like:
Size
Take into account the number of people who will use the gourd to drink the chimarrão, there are models of small size (for maturing alone), medium (for the use of two or three people) and the large gourd (for chimarrão wheels).
Thickness
The thickness of the gourd is closely linked to the time when the water will remain hot, because the thicker the porongo, but it will hold the heat of the drink.
Thick or sweet porongo is the type of fruit preferred by mateador, as it does not alter the flavor of chimarrão, ensures that yerba mate does not mix in water quickly and does not change water temperature.
