The new Starbucks: Yerba Mate

I had this great drink for the first time this summer in Manitou Springs, CO (great town!). It was at The Mate Factor. They had hot and iced mate in plain or fruit flavors. I had an iced mate, and it was delicious... and nutritious... and loaded with caffeine. So a few weeks ago I ordered a pound of loose leaf Yerba Mate from Amazon to make at home in our French press.

Yerba Mate is a traditional South American herbal tea with a natural caffeine content comparable to coffee (80 mg per serving), rich in nutrients and anti-oxidants. The folks down there drink it from gourds, but it was just fine iced in a plastic cup and is great out of our French press.

The place in Manitou Springs had a Starbucks kind of feel, though even more earthy and eco-friendy, and less upitty-feeling.  And I think this can work on a larger scale. I'm almost getting tired of coffee, and I don't think I'm alone. I think there's room for a new beverage on the block, and I'm not talking just yogurt smoothies (a trend I predicted several years ago).

I'm seeing mate shops on street corners across America.