Guayakí Yerba Mate is an organic beverage company founded in 1996 by college friends Alex Pryor and David Karr in California. The name Guayakí comes from the Indigenous Aché people of Paraguay, who are ancestral consumers of the yerba mate plant. Guayakí sources its organic yerba mate from small farmer cooperatives in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Yerba mate is a plant native to South America with properties similar to caffeinated plants. Its leaves are used to make a stimulating drink.
Where was yerba mate invented?
Yerba mate is a caffeinated drink with Indigenous origins widely consumed in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The bitter, herbal, tea-like beverage is brewed from the leaves of a native species of holly tree found in the forests of South America. The indigenous Guaraní and some Tupi communities first cultivated and consumed yerba mate before European colonization of the Americas.
In the same way people meet for tea or coffee, friends often gather and drink mate in Paraguay, Argentina, Southern Brazil, and Uruguay. The origins of yerba mate can be traced back to the indigenous Guarani people of South America, specifically in the region now known as Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina where it holds great cultural significance.
Today, South American tea is enjoyed by people all over the world, and its popularity continues to grow. Yerba mate grows in Argentina, Paraguay and southern Brazil, where the soil, temperature and humidity are ideal.
In Argentina, mate tea is the most consumed drink after water, without distinction of gender, age or social class. Mate is present in more than 90% of the Argentinean homes.
What we know of as modern-day yerba mate is most similar to that the Guarani tribes prepared. They toasted, milled, and dried the leaves and consumed the tea in a small gourd with a straw.
Yerba mate was originally used by a native South American tribe called the Guarani. They believed that yerba mate was a gift from the gods.
Was yerba mate started at Cal Poly?
Yerba mate started in South America. The plant is grown in the shade. Argentina is the largest yerba mate producer.
In 1996 at Cal Poly University, Alex Pryor introduced yerba mate to his friend David Karr. They started the company Guayaki to share yerba mate. The goddess Yari taught the Guarani people how to prepare yerba mate. In 1536, the Spanish conquistador Juan Francisco de Aguirre first mentioned yerba mate use.
Where is yerba mate grown in the world?
Maté leaves used to make the tea come from the Ilex paraguariensis plant which is part of the holly family. This plant grows wild in parts of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The best yerba mate flavor comes from leaves grown in shaded areas away from direct sunlight.
Indigenous peoples were the first to use yerba mate, seeing it as a gift from the gods. They would use the plant for stamina while working or for its medicinal properties. When Europeans arrived in South America they saw economic potential in cultivating yerba mate.
Today South American tea is still important culturally and economically in places like Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and parts of Brazil where it is consumed more than coffee. The nourishing, energizing tea is growing in popularity worldwide as people learn about its many health benefits. Yerba mate now can be found in various blends, teas, energy drinks and supplements outside South America.