Answer:

September 25, 2007 — Stefan Schachter first developed a taste for yerba mate as a high school student, when he traveled to Paraguay to do service work with Amigos de las Americas (AMIGOS) in 1991. He was enchanted by the distinct taste of the tea and the communal practice of drinking it.

Yerba mate is prevalent in South America, especially in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Not only did AMIGOS introduce Schachter to his beloved yerba mate, but it opened his eyes in other ways.

“My experience basically blew my world open,” Schachter said. “It opened my eyes to the fact that there’s a lot more out there than suburban America.”

Schachter grew up in upstate New York and attended high school in Tucson. When 17-year-old Schachter returned to the United States from his AMIGOS summer, he thought his days of sharing in a mate circle were over.

“There was a mythical aspect for me about mate,” Schachter recalled. “It didn’t occur to me that I could find it in the United States.”

It wasn’t until Schachter graduated from college that he realized a small market for mate had begun brewing in the United States. Schachter earned a degree in social psychology at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California and completed an ecological horticulture certificate program at UC Santa Cruz after college.

“At about that time, I was on a road trip throughout the west,” he said. “Santa Cruz was the first place I had found organic yerba mate. Once I had opened my eyes to it, I started seeing it everywhere.”

Schachter said yerba mate is different from other stimulants like coffee and caffeinated soft drinks.

"It offers pleasant, gentle stimulation. It gives you a nice lift of calm energy without causing jitters,” he explained. “It gives you sustained energy.”

He said the tea is also high antioxidants, vitamin B and zinc, and it aids in digestion and stimulates the cardiovascular system. However, he said the bitter tea is an acquired taste for most people.

“If people give it a shot, they often like the way it makes them feel and begin to develop a taste for it,” Schachter advised.

Schachter first got the idea about starting a yerba mate distributing business when visiting his cousin in New Mexico.

“My cousin had just discovered mate, and we were enjoying it together,” Schachter said. “After several hours of relaxing and drinking the tea, I asked, ‘why isn’t this available everywhere we go? It is such a wonderful product. It should be everywhere throughout the United States.’”

Schachter shared his idea with long-time friend Brendan Girard. In 1999 Schachter and Girard started the business – Mate Revolution – in the living room of a small house in Ashland, Oregon.

“We have been friends since second grade, and we have always been in business together,” Schachter explained. “We used to set up lemonade stands, and we collected baseball cards together.”

Like most small businesses, Mate Revolution’s beginnings were humble.

Schachter and Girard blended the herbs in the kitchen, created labels on an inkjet printer and began marketing the tea in local grocery stores.

But it didn’t take long for their EcoTeas brand to catch on. The tea earned a reputation for its smooth flavor.

“It had the least smoky flavor of all of the teas on the market,” Schachter explained.

He said that’s because EcoTeas uses an air-drying process instead of the more common practice of drying the herbs over a wood fire.

Mate Revolution has an exclusive relationship with a family farm in Argentina, which supplies all of the yerba mate for EcoTeas and uses the uncommon air-drying process.

Schachter said that he visited dozens of family farms in South America, searching for the perfect supplier.

The yerba mate market is somewhat competitive but the market is rapidly growing, Schachter said.  Recently, beverage companies including Coca-Cola have expressed an interest in the product, and health food stores across the country offer yerba mate tea bags and ready-to-drink yerba mate products.

“Our company name ‘Mate Revolution’ is really appropriate,” he said. “It came at a time when mate was catching on in a big way.”

Though the business has grown, Schachter said he and the other three people working at the company strive to maintain a balanced lifestyle.

“We work a reasonable amount of hours and have hobbies outside of work,” Schachter said.

He said outsourcing the packaging and shipping of the tea and partnering with outside sales representatives keeps the day-to-day work manageable.

Though his work with Mate Revolution provides a healthy source of income, Schachter said the most rewarding aspect of the business is sharing his love for yerba mate.

That’s what inspired him to work with one of his major competitors, Guayaki, to co-found the Yerba Mate Association of the Americas (YMAA). The purpose of the organization is to inform people living in North America of the benefits of consuming yerba mate. To learn about YMAA, visit http://yerbamateassociation.org

“We are working cooperatively in a way that is brand neutral,” Schachter explained. “Growing awareness about yerba mate is positive for business and is good for the public.”

Schachter has always been interested in sustainable agriculture and natural techniques for living a healthy live style, but he never imagined finding a job that would combine so many of his interests.

“This job has given me an opportunity to weave my interests together – sustainable agriculture, Latin American culture, Spanish and business,” Schachter explained.

Schachter said his trip to Paraguay with AMIGOS 16 years ago continues to influence him today. 

“I realized the importance of a simple lifestyle and that you don’t have to have a lot of material possessions to be happy,” he reflected. “That has shaped my values. We don’t overwork ourselves. We want to do good work and produce a livelihood, but we take time to pursue our interests and enjoy life.”

For more information about Mate Revolution and EcoTeas, visit www.ecoteas.com.
 

SCHACHTER’S TERERÉ RECIPE

As a true mate lover and connoisseur, Schachter enjoys all types of mate. He enjoys hot mate with a yerba mate tea bag, and of course, traditional mate, enjoyed with a bombilla and gourd. A bombilla is a filter straw used to drink the tea, and gourds are used as a traditional vessel for the tea. However, Schachter admitted that he does have a favorite mate recipe: Tereré. 

Tereré is a refreshing summer treat. It is more popular than hot mate in tropical South America. You can prepare tereré just like hot mate, but use flavored iced water instead of hot. Generally, it is better to use a small glass or metal cup instead of a mate gourd, as the flavored water will seep into natural gourds.

1. Fill a pitcher with water and ice.
2. Add agave syrup, maple syrup, or unrefined cane sugar to taste.
3. Squeeze a fresh lime or two into the pitcher. (Organic bottled lemonade or limeade can be used instead.)
4. Fill a small glass or metal cup with Eco Teas Organic Yerba Mate.
5. Insert a bombilla.
6. Pour sips of ice-cold, sweet limey water right over the bombilla's head.
7. Share, Sip, and Refresh!

For dramatic effect and culinary delight, try using a coconut, a hollowed-out grapefruit, or even a packed snowball!