For more than three weeks now, the Maté Factor Café has been bringing its Brazilian herbal tea and sweet rolls to downtown Savannah. The café opened Feb. 1 on Habersham and Hall, next to Kroger, to serve its signature yerba maté drinks and baked goods.
Wood and dim lighting fill the space from floor to ceiling. A small stairwell near the entrance leads to a nook with a pair of tables, and an upper level offers a view of the whole café. A wooden awning hovers over the colorful menu and a medley of bread, sweet rolls, apple cinnamon muffins and carob brownies.
Their signature drinks include moca mint and vanilla hazelnut yerba maté lattes, items such as Hot “Not” Chocolate, which uses carob syrup instead of cocoa, and their specialty — maté teas.
The shop is owned and operated by members of the Twelve Tribes, a religious organization known for its communal lifestyle. They found out about yerba maté on a trip to Brazil.
“Once we got into Brazil, we got introduced to it, and we thought, ‘Wow, this is such a good drink,’ so it became part of our tradition, part of our culture,” said John Stringer, the co-owner of the Maté Factor.
The South American plant, a member of the holly family, contains caffeine and has been touted for its health benefits, such as its high level of antioxidants and promotion of weight loss. Maté isn’t completely new to the alternative coffee market in the United States. Becky Wright, co-owner of The Tea Room, has been serving maté for years and said it has a small but sure following.
Many customers are students preparing for finals, but there are also the nostalgic types.
“Some people who traveled to South America, they go on their pilgrimage to Machu Pichu and all that, are kind of heavy into it. It takes them back to that experience,” Wright said.
Stringer and other Twelve Tribes members knew they wanted to come
up with something distinct from all the other maté in South America, so they built a maté processing plant in Brazil to take advantage of the local cultivation and to support the community there.
“Maté is a very special type of tea, so you have to process it in a special way,” Stringer said.
They joined forces with organic growers in Brazil and process it at the plant. Then they ship the processed maté in containers to the Twelve Tribes community in Asheville, N.C., where it is given a variety of flavors, packaged and distributed to stores and cafés throughout the country.
The purchase and repair of a rundown tall ship brought the Twelve Tribes to Savannah in the 1990s.
“We liked Savannah so much that we decided to stay and build a community here,” Stringer said. “Wherever we have a community we always create our own industry.”
Selling tea and bread isn’t the only way they build up funds for their community. Their Yellow Deli sandwich shops have been in business since the 1970s. They also operate food markets, bakeries and even a construction company.
“We want to be self-supporting; we want a sustainable type of life,” Stringer said.
One of the goals for the Maté Factor is to earn enough revenue to open a Yellow Deli downtown, Stringer said.
A building has been chosen on Drayton Street, with the signature yellow curtains already hanging from the windows, but there’s no opening date. For now, they simply want to see response grow, especially with a new Leopold’s opening around the corner.
“This is going to be the corner in all Savannah — ice cream over there, sweet rolls over here,” Stringer said. “The line is going to meet somewhere in the middle.”
IF YOU GO
What: Maté Factor
Where: 401 East Hall Street, Savannah
Info: (912) 235-2906 or matefactorcafe.com