I’m using some rosamonte yerba I found on amazon, I hope that isn’t the problem. I tried swelling the leaves for longer and longed and actually let them swell for 24 hours, and i get the same exact problem. When I pour the water in, the montanita simply collapses. I tried pouring in different ways, on the hole, on the yerba, by letting the water run down the bombilla, upright and tilted, and the montanita collapses. I also tried various different temps, from 0C to 80C.
Its it like this
Or more like this?
The first one is going to be much harder to get a proper montanita due to the shape.
definitely more like the second
though, I don’t have a proper gourd, I’m literally using a glass cup
I definitely recommend a proper gourd, the curved side of the gourd allows the mate to kind of shape into it.
You may want to position your bombilla in a way so that it kind of holds everything up and supports montanita. You can use the bombilla to press into the mate to form a wall of mate.
Another component is dust content, which I think rosamonte has fairly low dust. Basically the dust kind of acts like a glue and holds everything together.
Argentine style cut is more prone to this issue. I found La Merced, De Campo had a bit more dust and I had no problem with it. You could also try a Uruguayan style such as Canarias, or Chimarrao which have its own set of challenges to prepare such as clogging the bombilla.
Just remember that there really isn’t a right or wrong way to prepare it. If you enjoy the experience it should be good enough.
i think my glass mimics well enough the shape of a gourd, and i already do press the yerba. I guess it’s the yerba