Quote Originally Posted by xman View Post
Your gourds may be sexier, but I'm pretty sure min is bigger. I have a HUGE gourd I brought back from South America, but I don't use it because it has a veeeeeerrrrry slow leak. I just use a mug. I get even more in that way. I typically drink 3 or 4 cups a day. My FIL introduced me to it about 5 or 6 years ago. I never did have a problem with rotting yerba though. You shouldn't let it sit there. Clean it out as soon as you're done and you should be good.

X
I've got a nice mate gourd on an aluminum base, a really big mate made from bull horn with alpaca artwork, and a plain mate gourd with aztek artwork.

The tea is generally drank from the gourd by multiple people. Half the gourd is filled with tea and water continually added as needed until the tea taste has virtually completely gone. I usually drink 2 to 3 gourds a day and thought that would keep the tea from going bad but it isn't I've tried putting the gourd in the fridge at night but that doesn't seem to help either. I've taken to using a tea ball in the gourd and just getting 2 cups from the tea ball but I'd like to get back to drinking it the traditional way .