Argentine tea culture facts for kids
The Argentine tea culture is shaped by both local traditions and drinks brought in from other countries. Argentina is a big producer of tea (which comes from the Camellia sinensis plant). But it's most famous for growing and drinking mate, a special drink made from the leaves of the local yerba mate plant.
Contents
History of Tea in Argentina
When Jesuit missionaries first arrived in Argentina, they tried to stop people from drinking the popular local tea, yerba mate. But they soon changed their minds! They started growing yerba mate themselves on big farms, especially in the Misiones area. They continued this until they were asked to leave the Americas in 1767.
The first non-native teas were brought to Argentina from Russia in 1920. Later, in 1924, the Argentine government encouraged farmers to try growing tea from seeds imported from China. Farmers experimented with these seeds in provinces like Misiones, Corrientes, and Tucuman.
At first, growing foreign tea wasn't very popular because world prices were low, and people thought the local tea wasn't as good. So, not much tea was grown in Argentina until 1951. That year, Argentina stopped importing tea from other countries. Since tea was still a favorite drink, the demand for local tea grew a lot! In 1952, new tea farms were started in Misiones Province, growing much better quality tea. This led to even more farmers growing tea. Over the years, Argentina has become a major tea exporter, now ranking as the ninth largest tea producer in the world.
How Tea is Produced
Argentina is a very important country for tea production. As of 2005, it was the world's ninth-largest tea producer, making about 64,000 metric tons each year.
Most of Argentina's tea is grown in the warm and humid highlands of the Misiones and Corrientes provinces. The main tea farms are on flat land, which makes it easy to use machines for harvesting. The tea growing season runs from November to May. Farmers plant several seeds together, a few inches deep in the soil. For the first year, young tea plants are protected from the sun by bamboo sticks or straw cones.
Argentine teas are some of the most affordable in the world. They are mostly used to make ready-to-drink (RTD) and iced teas because of their strong color and fresh taste.
Argentina exports about 50 million kilograms of tea every year. This tea is mainly used for mixing with other teas. The biggest buyer is the United States, where most of it is used for iced tea. Countries in Europe, like the United Kingdom, also buy Argentine tea. Even though Argentina produces a lot of tea for export, only about 5 percent of it is consumed by people living in Argentina. In 2015, Argentina exported 78,000 metric tons of tea, which was 4 percent of all tea exports worldwide. The United States bought a large part of this, about 55,300 metric tons. Experts believe that tea production and trade in Argentina will continue to grow in the future.
Yerba Mate: A Special Drink
Mate is a type of herbal tea that is very popular in Argentina, as well as in Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The word mate comes from the Quechuan language and means "gourd." Mate is usually served in a hollow gourd (or sometimes a horn or hoof). People drink it through a metal straw called a bombilla.
This way of drinking mate started with the native Guarani culture. The Guarani called the yerba mate plant Caa. They made bombilla straws from hollow reeds and added a filter at the end using plant fibers. Today's bombilla straws are made of metal, but they still have that important filter at the end that goes into the gourd.
There's a special way to share mate:
The cebador (the person serving) slowly pours water into the gourd. Then, the gourd is passed around clockwise, and everyone follows this order. A good cebador can keep the mate going for a long time without needing to change the yerba. Each person drinks all the mate in the gourd when it's their turn.
People have long believed mate has health benefits. It has special compounds that act as antioxidants and can help lower cholesterol. It also contains vitamins C, B1, and B2. Long ago, people noticed that Argentine gauchos (cowboys) who mostly ate meat and drank mate didn't get scurvy, a disease caused by lack of vitamin C. This helped mate become known as a healthy drink, making it even more popular.
Today, mate drinking is very common in Argentina. On average, Argentines drink about 5 kilograms of mate per person each year. It's a popular morning drink because it has a lot of caffeine. When sharing mate, it's considered bad manners to stir the tea with the straw or to wipe the bombilla.
Other ways of drinking mate are also popular in Argentina. Mate cocido is simply yerba mate brewed in a tea bag, much like regular tea. It's often served with milk or sugar and is less bitter than traditional mate. Another drink, mate de leche con cascarita de naranja, is made by adding orange peels and hot milk to yerba mate.
There's even a museum dedicated to the history of yerba mate in Tigre, which is near Buenos Aires.
Tea-Drinking Customs and Places
In the southernmost part of Argentina, Patagonia, especially the town of Gaiman, is famous for its traditional Welsh tea houses. These tea houses are very popular with tourists. Welsh people started them after moving to Argentina in the 1800s to find cultural freedom, as their language was being suppressed in Great Britain at the time.
The Welsh tea customs are similar to those in Great Britain and Ireland. Tea is usually served around 4:00 p.m. It's mixed with milk and sugar and enjoyed with cakes and pastries. The most famous cake is the 'torta negra galesa', or Welsh black cake. Inside the tea houses, you'll find family treasures and decorative kitchen items with Welsh names and writings, making the experience feel very authentic. They often play traditional Welsh music, and larger groups might even get to hear a live Welsh choir sing.
In Buenos Aires, you can find places that mix British tea culture with Argentine food. Tea is served in the late afternoon, following the British custom. You can enjoy traditional British teas like Earl Grey with scones, tarts, and small sandwiches. Or, you can choose Argentine dishes from the tea menu, like asado de tira (beef ribs). Other options include tereré, which is mate made with cold water, and locro, a thick bean stew.
Young Argentines are also trying new tea drinks influenced by global trends. They can now buy Moroccan mint tea or Chinese green tea, along with more traditional kinds. When Starbucks opened its first store in Argentina, it even added a mate latte drink to its menu, showing how important mate is to Argentine tea culture.
