Yerba Mate Straw
September 15, 2010 1 Comment
If you are looking to buy a straw or just check out different types. (Mate Straw). A site that has a pretty good variety and some good prices.
A Yerba Mate straw or “bombilla” is a metal, bamboo, or wooden straw used to sip yerba out of a hallowed out gourd. Mate is served with a metal straw from a shared hollow calabash gourd. The straw is traditionally made of silver.
Modern commercially available straws are typically made of nickel silver, called Alpaca, stainless steel, or hollow-stemmed cane. As with other brewed herbs, mate leaves are dried, chopped, and ground into a powdery mixture called yerba.
The Yerba Mate straw (bombilla) acts as both a straw and a sieve. The submerged end is flared, with small holes or slots that allow the brewed liquid in, but block the chunky matter that makes up much of the mixture. A modern Yerba Mate straw (bombilla) design uses a straight tube with holes, or spring sleeve to act as a sieve. The yerba mate straw replaces tea bags as a means for keeping fibrous material from being mixed with the ingested liquid mate.
Some higher end or more expensive Yerba Mate Straws have the ability to be opened up in order to make cleaning easier. And the ones that do not have this ability can be boiled in hot water or cleaned with baking soda.
A pin may be used to push into the small holes to clear them from very small mate leaves which may collect in the holes.
Types of Yerba Mate Straws:
There are straight straws and bent straws. Some people prefer the bent ones because the cup doesn’t have to be tilted in order to drink from it. Yerba Mate straws (bombillas) come in several shapes and designs.
One type of Yerba Mate straw (bombilla) popular in South America is the:
Spoon Style Yerba Mate Straw:
Spoon styles are made of metal, many being made of alpaca metal by hand. The end of the Yerba Mate straw (bombilla) is rounded, with one side a flattened surface with small holes at the bowl.
Another popular spoon-shaped Yerba Mate straw (bombilla) is the circle spoon style. The end of the Yerba Mate straw (bombilla) is completely rounded with holes on the surface of the bowl.
Spring Filter Yerba Mate Straw:
Spring filter yerba mate straws (bombillas) can be opened for an easy cleaning.
Scraper-type Yerba Mate Straw:
Scraper-type yerba mate straws (bombillas) have a hook at the end to be used for scraping out the gourd where the tea has been. Residue builds up in the gourd, and the Yerba Mate straw (bombilla) can be used to remove the residue.
Antique Yerba Mate Straw:
Antique Yerba Mate straws made from silver or gold are highly prized and collected. Many handmade Yerba Mate straws (bombillas) are lavish in design with leaves, insect and animal motifs. Most sought-after are silver Yerba Mate straws (bombillas) with various designs on them.
Bamboo Yerba Mate Straw:
Some people make their Mate straw with a thin piece of bamboo and simply poke holes into the bottom part of it. However these types of yerba mate straws don’t last very long and tend to let some of the particles of tea through the filter.
As you can see there are many different types of yerba mate straws. It’s all about your personal preference. If you are looking for a place to buy a Yerba Mate Straw (Bombilla) I sugest checking out this link, (Mate Straw), to see some of the different types and varieties.
I hope this information was helpful to you.
Ronald
www.MateGourd.org
Yerba Mate Straw/Bombilla
[...] -The different types of Mate gourds and types of bombillas/straws. [...]