Guayaki’s yerba mate is a tea based drink that comes in several different flavors. My personal favorite and what others will be taste testing is entitled “Bluephoria.” Ilex Paraguariensis is the holly tree in the South American, Atlantic rainforest that produces natural caffeinated leaves. The co-founder of Guayaki, Alex Pryor, actually first introduced yerba mate to the Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo University community that shaped the company’s production forever. In Argentinian culture this humble drink is a symbol of hospitality and friendship. The Guayaki’s mantra “Come To Life” is used to connect people all over the world to embrace and recognize cultural regeneration.
Many others who despise the taste of coffee find yerba mate to be a great alternative for a caffeinated drink. The tea is said to bring many health benefits since it is rich in antioxidants and can improve mental stability. Even famous celebrities like Kylie Jenner choose Gauyaki’s yerba mate as their all time favorite drink. Because of the hype oftentimes caused by social media when it comes to certain trends, I decided to gain several opinions on yerba from students here at Mayfair. Courtney Cummings, is a fellow member in Journalism who discovered Gauyaki’s infamous yerba mate through a friend who talked about it often. She continued to explain how, “One day he gave me one to try and I’ve liked them ever since. At first I only drank the mint flavor, but slowly began to try the others and found that I liked them all.” Like Courtney, all it took for me to get hooked on yerba mate was one flavor, eventually branching out to all the others. The best part about this drink was being able to start a common interest with all my friends because once I introduced yerba to them, they finally understood what I was raving about.