Balibetov Yerba Mate Gourd Set (Original Natural Handmade Yerba Mate Cup Argentina) - Includes Mate Tea Cup, Bombilla (Yerba Mate Straw) and Clean Brush (Brown)

My grandson bought this yerba because he said it looked cool. Lol. I took it out of the box, read the instructions on it, how it was made, and how to clean it. This thing is really neat. It's made from a natural grown product. It looks like leather on the inside, but the booklet says no. It's all natural. The booklet tells in detail how it was made and how long it took. Me & my grandson love this thing. I don't think he will ever use it though. He has it sitting on a shelf in his bedroom, still in the box. When his friends come over he has to show it off, but he don't let anyone touch it. He's pretty good at taking care of his things. He does know what to do with it, and how to use it, but like I said, I don't think he will ever use it.. I give it 5 stars because it's made from natural grown vegetable. Very unique in craftsmanship.

In the languid embrace of an Arkansas summer, when the air was thick with the scent of magnolia and the languorous pulse of cicadas hummed a reminder of childhood days, I found myself the grateful custodian of two humble gourds. The process of curing them became an intimate ritual, a slow dance with time—soaking them tenderly in herba mate and later laying them under the benevolent gaze of the sun as if coaxing secrets from their wooden skins.On the smaller of these, I affixed a Louisiana quarter, a talisman of my boyhood home, a shimmering sliver of nostalgia that held the echoes of my past. Each day, without fail, I would engage with these gourds, their surfaces polished to a gleaming lustre with a carnauba lemon oil that whispered of brightness and warmth. It was a communion of sorts, a celebration of memory intertwined with the beauty of the present.Yet today, calamity struck—a fateful misstep as the flapping cuff of my shirt carelessly caught the gourd, sending it skittering across the tile floor in a cruel ballet of misfortune. It landed with a resigned thud, now marred by a crack that traversed its elegant form, a poignant reminder of fragility amidst beauty. Nonetheless, even in this imperfect state, it remains a sight to behold, a testament to its grace.While it is true I possess a spare—an echo of the original—I am determined to seek out a new companion for it, for this encounter with beauty, even when shadowed by misfortune, has left me profoundly pleased with the generous gift I encountered. Life in all its imperfections retains a certain allure, a continuous narrative threading through the fabric of my existence here in Arkansas.

When my cuias arrived there was already mold growing all inside the gourd and there was a lot of large flaking of the skin inside. I was bummed but I thought the curing process might kill the mold and that I could gently scrape the large pieces of skin after it had soaked in yerba. Well, when I started to wash it in warm water the dye used on the outside of the gourd bled all over my hands, sink, and countertop. My countertop is now stained purple. At this point I'm annoyed, but am determined to save this poor, abused cuias. So I fill the cuias with yerba as described in the instructions, and start to fill the mate with hot water. After doing this, I try to move it down the countertop, out of the way of things, and I knocked the silver ring at the rim off by just barely touching it! The craftsmanship is simply awful, shoddy, and really embarrassing. The bombilla is nice, tho I would warn you, DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT unless you want to pay $30+ for a bombilla and a failed cuias.

Review edit: I cured the gourd a few more days and switched to a bamboo straw and the made all the difference. No weird taste anymore. Great product!Revision: Cure la calabaza unos 3 dias mas luego use una bombilla de bamboo y ahora el mate me sabe rico. Ya no me sabe raro. Bueno producto.The gourd looks really cool. However, for me, it changed the taste of the mate to something I don't like. The gourd flavor seeps into the mate and to me is unpleasant, and I drink mate with no sweetener. I'm not South American, so perhaps I don't know any better, but I do not like the taste the gourd gives the mate. Maybe it needs to cure longerLa calabaza se ve bien chido pero para mi cambia el sabor de la yerba a algo que no me gusta. A lo mejor asi debe de ser pero no me gusta. No soy sudamericano entonces puede que no aprecie el sabor agregado a la yerba, pero no es mi gusto. Y eso que tomo la yerba amarga. Puede que necesite curarse mas tiempo con el mate reposando.

Hello,I really wanted to like this product, as it seems similar to what acquaintances were using when I was drinking Mate for the first time in Argentina.I received it, followed the instructions (soak overnight & strip out the extra gourd flesh x 2) , and despite taking extreme care to not over-strip the flesh, the gourd still leaks.It's not a fast leak - but it will make anything under it wet over the course of hours.So it's basically un-usable, and is not the device that will get me to enjoy Mate.I do like the item, the thought behind it, and the overall package - I just wish it didn't leak.I may just have had bad luck - these are natural containers, and may not all be waterproof.

I have this product 5 stars and I’m sorry for giving it a bad review before I didn’t know it needed to be cured!! I misjudged it. It is awesome and yet a taste so good in it excellent product

Buena calidad

The gourds were fine, but both bombillas were terrible. I had to replace both because neither of them stopped the loose tea from coming through the straw. All along the edges was not sealed, so when you try to take a drink you end up with a mouth full of tea leaves.