Bombilla

Different types of bombillas, with a common matchstick for scale.

Lithograph of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, a 19th-century ruler of Paraguay, with a mate and its respective bombilla.

A bombilla (Spanish), bomba (Portuguese) or masassa (Arabic) is type of drinking straw, used to drink mate.^[1] Bombillas contain a filter in the lower end to separate the mate infusion from leaves and stems. Traditional bombillas are made of alpacca silver, a metal alloy of copper and nickel, while other common materials are stainless steel and hollow-stemmed cane.

The Spanish term is also used for electric lightbulbs, bombilla eléctrica, being a diminutive of bomba.^[1]

References