ARGENTINA MATE GOURD YERBA TEA WITH STRAW BOMBILLA CUP GAUCHO KIT HANDMADE 0060

Mate - it means the gourd you drink from and as yerba mate it means the tea you put in the gourd. It's a complex idea and the ritual of mate involves a lot of work.The word "mate" derives from Quechua and refers to the gourd itself.First, the gourd must be "cured" which in this case means you have to clean it. The gourd is harvested and then roughly cleaned out and then dried outside in the weather for a few months. You make a gourd of mate and let it sit for 24 hours (some say for 48 hours.) Then after you empty and rinse the gourd, you have to scrape out the residual gourd flesh. The gourd is a kind of squash, not far from butternut squash. I used a teaspoon to gently scrape out the soft tissue.This handsome mate is black. The dye that makes it black is not waterproof, but only water resistant. If you leave it wet, it will stain the surface it's sitting on. So you have to use paper towels to dry the outside or you will have purple stains everywhere.Then you have let the gourd dry because the inside of the gourd gets wet and retains water. The mate should be dried completely. If you use it a lot, you can wait and dry it overnight, but it is important to keep the gourd dry.The bombilla (that's what you sip through, the straw) is modest, a spring is the filter. But it works just fine.My gourd has pretty thick walls and is very comfortable to hold.

The gourd was very small and had a half inch long crack in it from the top going down. So I had to be careful when pouring water into it, because it leaked. And the edges around the bombilla straw allowed many tea particles into the straw.

The initial thing that I noticed was that the gourd was smaller than the ones i've purchased before through Mate Factor- but it was sleek and clean inside- about half the size of previous gourds. The bombilla is gorgeous! I bought this for a bf that I was trying to get on the wonders of Mate' and he's very happy with it. The look and feel are def more masculine and regal, even.I'm happy with my purchase!

My disappointment started when I opened the package, and pulled the gourd out. The gourd is handcrafted, which appealed to me; however, the craftsmanship was very lacking as there was still membranes and seeds still attached inside. I don't feel that a costumer should have to chance messing up their product because the product was not cleaned out very well.Also another disappointment is the paint on the exterior of the gourd. As soon as I pulled the gourd from the box the paint rubbed off onto my hands. When I prepared the gourd, as per directions that came with the gourd, the paint continued to come off. I now have black stains on the tops of my counter from the gourds.I contacted the company about my disappointment with the product and they offered for me to exchange it, but I've decided not to mess with it. I would give 3 stars for the costomer service but honestly wouldn't give the gourd a star at all. So to average it he expierence out I gave 1star for this product. The company sells better gourds, so I wouldn't write off the company!!!!

What you see is what you get. It's smaller than I thought it was going to be. That's probably on me.

I ordered this as a gift for family who drinks loose natural teas. We discovored these type of cups and found that some LOOK like gourds but this really is a gourd and came with the perfect bomilla straw. This product came in just 2 days .. Must buy !

i think that, the change of item with another more small, is impossible and much expensive.dont'worryGiorgioCagliariItaly

This item was as described and arrived in a timely manner. The gourd is a little bit on the small side for my taste.