Venue: Residence of the Embassy of Argentina
Date: 13th November 2017

Indians are one of the largest producers as well as consumers of tea in the world. A number of famous teas like Assam and Darjeeling grow exclusively in India. The Indian tea industry enjoys the status of being one of the most technologically equipped tea industries around the world. Tea cafes in Delhi NCR  are doing great business just like famous international coffee outlets.

Indians now are going beyond the regular tea and familiar tea-drinking styles. Since last few years, we have woken up to the benefits of green tea and are open to tamper our taste buds to appreciate many different varieties of tea. Several Indian companies are creating blends and flavors of green tea to entice Indian consumers. From jasmine to rose, to honey ginger to mint and even turmeric – there is an explosive growth in tea varieties in India.

Riding the popularity wave of green tea, the National Institute of Yerba Mate INYM, from the Republic of Argentina has recently launched Yerba Mate tea in India. We attended the launch and tasting session of Yerba Mate tea at the Argentine Embassy in Delhi.

The event started with a brief introduction about the Yerba Mate tea. From the right way to pronounce (pronounced as je’r-baa maa-tay) to its benefits, we got to know a lot about this newly launched tea in almost an hour-long session.

Yerba Mate is made by steeping the dried leaves of the Yerba Mate plant and is an infusion which is brewed in near-boiling water. We are told that this is a greener green tea and has benefits many fold than a regular green tea. We were shown a presentation on Yerba Mate tea which was followed by short speeches by Amarendra Khatua – former Ambassador of India to Argentina, Anish Narang – Managing Director, Karavan Advisory Enterprises LLP and Carlos Coppoli – Marketing Head, INYM.

INYM have partnered with an Indian tea company Anandini Himalaya Tea to create blends and flavors that can cater to the Indian Palate. Anamika Singh, a tea sommelier from Anandini Himalaya Tea explained a little about the blends. She spoke about the three varieties of Yerba Mate Tea that have been launched for the Indian markets.

The proof of the pudding is in it’s taste. Next, we tasted these three varieties of Yerba Mate tea over some light snacks. The three blends range from fruity infusion to somewhat like our Kashmiri Kahwa to a stronger green tea taste.

The evening concluded with a beautiful Tango performance.

Yerba Mate is definitely a refreshing take on having green tea and we look forward to adding Yerba Mate to our regular tea drinking. We would also love to have Yerba Mate tea from Argentina in famous tea cafes in Delhi like Chaayos, Waagh Bakri, Chai Point, TPot etc.