Wenzhuo Liu
Jorgelina Lezcano and her husband founded the blended tea brand Motivos in Argentina, using loose tea grown and processed in Argentina as the main ingredient, and its sales have continued to grow over the past five years. Yerba Mate tea is the national drink of Argentina, while afternoon tea customs and tea tree cultivation were only introduced to Argentina by European immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. Argentine tea farmers have always sold fresh leaves to major producers and processed them into broken tea for export. Since 2010, some tea plantation owners have begun to experiment with independent processing and production of tea products, and have established an association to develop supporting industries such as tourism in tea gardens.
In 2020, Jorgelina and her husband founded the blended tea brand Motivos in Argentina, which focuses on using natural ingredients and high-quality loose tea produced locally in Argentina, mainly from the Alma Annette tea plantation, mixed with flowers and tropical fruits, such as imported jasmine and local lavender, as well as lemon and other fruits. This type of blended tea has a strong taste and aroma, which perfectly caters to the taste buds of the Argentine consumer market. Especially the high sweetness of tropical fruits is in line with the preference of young people for sweet drinks. Jorgelina used to be an English teacher, and her husband works in the food and beverage industry. The family has a habit of drinking tea. By chance, Jorgelina began learning about tea blending. After practicing, the couple found a business opportunity and decided to mass produce and create their own branded products. With experience and connections in the catering industry, sales quickly opened up, mainly supplying tea services to businesses such as coffee shops, tea houses, and restaurants. The annual sales volume of tea is about 100 kilograms.
The custom of drinking Yerba Mate tea is deeply rooted in the Argentine people and is a part of daily life in Argentina. In the 19th century, some Welsh immigrants settled in southern Argentina and brought their afternoon tea tradition. To this day, there are still some tea houses in Argentina that offer tea services in the form of afternoon tea, with black tea mixed with milk and sugar, paired with pastries and cakes. Tea trees were first brought to Argentina by European Ukrainians in 1923, and large-scale tea planting began in the late 1930s, mainly large leaf tea trees. There are also a few tea plantations in Peru, Brazil, and Colombia in South America today, but Argentina remains the main planting area, and Argentina’s agricultural technology research institute is developing new tea tree varieties.
The tea season in the southern hemisphere usually lasts from September to March of the following year. Most tea farmers sell their harvested fresh tea leaves to three large producers in Argentina. 92% of the country’s tea production is CTC broken tea (mainly black tea), with the majority exported to the United States. Around 2010, Argentine tea farmers began processing their own tea, mainly targeting the domestic consumer market. Although struggling to survive, there are still about 12 tea gardens that insist on producing their own tea, including strip black tea, a small amount of green tea, and white tea loose tea. The tea produced in Argentina has a high content of tea polyphenols, a strong but astringent taste, and more emphasis is placed on the fruity aroma processed by heavy oxidation. Compared to the black tea produced in Yunnan, China, which Jorgelina drank, it had a more floral aroma, was softer and less bitter.
The Asociación de Tealeros Argentinos is a non-governmental association composed of 12 independently produced tea plantation owners. Its purpose is to promote tea productions by organizing tasting exhibitions and tea tourism activities around tea plantations. The participants of events mainly come from Argentina and neighboring countries such as Uruguay. People come to visit tea gardens, experience tea production, and experience tea culture, and more and more people are interested in it. The national tea exhibition Expoté in Argentina is held every May in the capital of Misiones province, Posadas. Not only can tea practitioners communicate with each other there, but it also provides opportunities for the public and tea enthusiasts to meet tea producers, as well as tea mixers, bottled tea companies, instant tea and tea set craftsmen. According to Jorgelina’s observation, tea has become increasingly popular in Argentina over the past five to ten years, with new ways of drinking tea constantly emerging. In addition, the latest trend shows that tea is being more connected to healthier lifestyles.
