Mate is served with a straw (bombilla)

Mate is served with a metal straw from a shared hollow calabash gourd. The straw is called a bombilla in Latin American Spanish. 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. The gourd is known as a mate. Even if the water comes in a very modern thermos, the infusion is traditionally drunk from mates. However, "tea-bag" type infusions of mate (mate cocido) have been on the market in Argentina for many years under such trade names as "Cruz de Malta".

Mate (beverage)

Mate, is a traditional South American infusion. It is prepared from steeping dried leaves of yerba mate in hot water. It is the national drink in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and drinking it is a common social practice in parts of Brazil, Chile, eastern Bolivia, Lebanon, Syria, Argentina and Turkey. In Brazil, it is considered to be a tradition typical of the “Gaúchos”, name given to those born in Rio Grande do Sul. The drink contains caffeine and has a pungent taste like a cross between green tea and coffee, with hints of tobacco and oak.