Argentine Mate Straw: "Bombilla"

Yerba mate tea is a popular tea brewed from the leaves of a native holly, indigenous to the mountains of northern Argentina, southeastern Brazil and Paraguay. After the mixture of yerba mate leaves and water has steeped and settled, the tea is sipped through a metal straw with perforations, called a "bombilla." Small pores allow the hot tea to flow into the lower, expanded end of the bombilla, but prevent leaf fragments from entering the straw. The bombilla is often beautifully decorated.
Accompanying the bombilla is the "guampa", a small hard-skinned gourd made into a special cup for drinking "yerba mate." Mate gourds are often fashioned with silver rims or collars and support bases.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_maté http://www.arizonagourds.com/yerbamate.html http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0503.htm