WITH its roasty, toasty flavor and funny name, yerba maté hasn’t hit the Starbucks drive-thru menu quite yet.
But like Indian chai tea and Italian espresso lattes before that, the exotic herbal drink is fast finding its way into American hot-cuppa-culture.
Celebrated for millennia by the indigenous peoples of South America, yerba maté is a tea brewed with leaves from a type of holly tree and still plays a part in social and cultural rituals in Argentina and Brazil. Hipsters and health freaks dig it because it’s a caffeine-like fix with benefits, brimming with antioxidants and delivering a buzz far gentler on the stomach and nerves than coffee.
Plus, it’s traditionally served in a cured gourd and sipped through a silver straw called a bombilla, which is way cooler than a paper cup with a plastic lid.
Progressive palates can give it a try at Savananh’s new maté-dedicated café, the Maté Factor, which opened its doors this week at the corner of Habersham and Hall.
Cozy as a mountain cabin with exquisite wooden flourishes and flowery wrought iron details, the café’s ambience guarantees that you won’t want to take your beverage to go. The narrow historic building looks like has been taken over by industrious elves, the interior transformed into a two-level seating area with a sunny loft and a sunken alcove overseen by a two-toned timber sunburst. Colorful murals abound. Benches are covered with tooled leather and hammered rivets, the artisanal efforts of the proprietors’ loving hands.
A stone’s throw from the downtown Kroger, the Maté Factor is owned and operated by the Twelve Tribes Community, a spiritual group that has lived communally in the neighborhood for over a decade. Renowned for their carpentry skills, the men are recognizable by their ponytails and beards; the women dress in bloomers and can often be seen herding small children in Forsyth Park with beatific smiles.
Part of a network of around 50 communities around the world, the local Twelve Tribes circle is comprised of several families and a handful of singles who live, work and share their resources as interpreted from the Bible in Acts 2:44, “All who believed were together and shared all things in common.”
Founded in the 1970s, the communes evolved out of the Jesus Movement and have had their share of controversy surrounding the group’s ascetic philosophies. While members do eschew many aspects of modern culture, the locals welcome questions about their lifestyle and consider themselves a part of Savannah’s larger community.
“We want people to get to know us,” says Brian Fenster, 41, who has lived in Twelve Tribes communities around the country for 20 years and relocated to Savannah last year to help open the Maté Factor, the latest in a chain owned by the group.
Fenster explains that organization supports itself by creating industries that allow members to stay close to their families during the workday. The local community has supported itself through its Commonwealth Construction company since the early 2000s and also owns a tall ship that was docked on River Street until recently.
The original Twelve Tribes communes of the 1970s sustained themselves with a series of 24-hour sandwich shops called the Yellow Deli, but the new café is the Savannah tribe’s first foray into food and drink.
“Our Southern communities were based on a construction economy, and when the economy went south a few years ago, we had to find new footing,” explains Fenster, adding that Twelve Tribes communities do not claim non-profit church status and pay property and income taxes.
In the years it took to get the café up to code, Commonwealth Construction has recovered its workload and continues to thrive, but the new café and bakery is a welcome return to what Fenster calls the “original pattern” of the founding members.
“When you live in community, you’re basically running a catering service anyway,” laughs Fenster as his wife, Shelevah, readies the bakery case and his one-year old daughter, Amidah, naps in a baby carrier nearby.
Along with yerba maté sourced and processed by Twelve Tribes community farms in Brazil, the Maté Factor also serves organic coffee, teas and cold drinks. Housemade muffins, danishes and fruit-stuffed scones are sweetened with maple syrup, agave and honey.
“We don’t do white sugar here, ever,” assures Fenster.
Fresh loaves of sourdough and whole wheat bread are baked on site or delivered from the Twelve Tribes bakery in Brunswick, and milk and cheese come fresh from nearby Southern Swiss Dairy.
Open every day except Saturday when members observe the Sabbath, The Maté Factor begins service at 6 a.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. on Sunday and closes at 8 p.m. except for Fridays, when the doors shut at 4 p.m. The wi-fi connection is free and runs strong.
At a soft opening last week, neighbors mingled with community members and admired the glossy walnut countertops, cups in hand. Some sipped the café’s signature Maya Mocha, a rich liquid confection of maté, organic carob and agave.
“This is delicious!” exclaimed Heidi Berkeley, who owns the nearby gift shop Folkorico with her husband, Joe.
Seasoned global travelers, they marveled at the level of craftsmanship put into the café, not often seen in U.S. cities anymore.
“It’s really unique,” said Joe. “This is such a wonderful addition to the neighborhood.”
Judging from the happy faces, Twelve Tribes’ return to the food and drink business will be a righteous success, and there are murmurs of a three-story Yellow Deli on Forsyth Park in the works.
Fenster doesn’t discount the possibility of growing the Twelve Tribes presence in Savannah’s foodie scene, pointing out that there’s nothing unholy about prosperity.
“It’s what you do when you get it that really maps out where your values are,” he says with a smile.
This article appears in Feb 4-10, 2015.
12 replies on “Meet me at the Maté Factor”
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It sounds like the author “drank the kool-aid. I hope she realizes that Twelve Tribes” is a very questionable and dangerous organization.
http://www.twelvetribes-ex.org/whyileft.ht…
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/dylan-has-the-answers
the link From the New Yorker. Yes. A cult, indeed. NOT buying their stuff.
Lighten up folks; people fear what they don’t understand. Having left the group after 22 years, I can recommend them for their craftsmenship and service and good clean food, but stay clear of the mind control; there’s much pain behind the smile. Sorry Brian
Lighten up folks; people fear what they don’t understand. Having left the group after 22 years I can recommend them for their craftsmen ship and service and good clean food, but stay clear of the mind control! There’s much pain behind the smile. Sorry Brian
No Kool-Aid was served, Kevin. This is a story about a new business in Savannah run by a religious community that has lived in the neighborhood for a decade, not an expose. I don’t know about you, but I’m not skeered of homemade danishes.
I’m not “skeered” of danishes, I’m just a responsible consumer who thinks beyond the reach of my own arm when it comes to what I buy and who I buy it from.
Dear Jessica Leigh Lebos (Reporter) – I understand that you write about, “anything involving free food for more than 20 years,” but it appears you did not do your homework concerning who and what the “Twelve Tribes” cult does besides offer you free food and drink? I am a journalist for the ‘Cult Examiner’ and ‘Wire Service’ and I’m stunned that you did not mention the controversies surrounding this cult community. On September 5, 2013, German police raided two communities belonging to the Twelve Tribes and removed 40 children to protect them from continued abuse. Within the community, parents routinely deny their children immunizations and medical care. They don’t want doctors to discover the many scars on their children’s buttocks from severe beatings. – David Love: davidloveletter@gmail.com
http://www.examiner.com/cult-in-canada/david-love
Actually, I did make mention the controversies, David, if you read the article. And I also did plenty of homework on the Twelve Tribes communities worldwide, including your link on examiner.com, which is a website that regularly exploits professional writers by paying them paltry amounts of money for their work.
Let me be clear: This is a story about a new business in Savannah. I did not receive any “free food or drink” for writing it other than what was made available to the public during the soft opening.
As far as my research shows, the local Twelve Tribes community has never been involved in any child abuse or any other criminal accusations other than a former neighbor telling me that they “do not like the way they treat their women.” The individuals I spoke with and have interacted with around town are clear-eyed, kind, authentic, humorous people who don’t appear to be hiding anything. I would not say that their lifestyle is for everyone; it’s certainly not for me. But not subscribing to mainstream medical practices doesn’t equal child abuse.
I could be wrong. But I would never assume that just because someone belongs to a group they embody all of the negative qualities expressed by another belonging to the group. That is the root of prejudice and hatred, and really, just poor journalism.
As for the people who won’t patronize the Mate Factor because they believe they’re supporting a bad cause, that’s the beauty of capitalism and free will. More danishes for the rest of us.
Jessica, I do understand what you are saying, and appreciate your reply. Indeed, you are right that, “paying them paltry amounts of money for their work,” is an iunderstatement. And, “that they “do not like the way they treat their women.”
http://www.examiner.com/article/twelve-tribes-child-abuse-cult-serves-different-kind-of-beverage?cid=db_articles
“On Oct. 21, 2014, CBC News reported that, “Twelve Tribes religious group targeted by child abuse allegations – the Manitoba government says the welfare of the children at Twelve Tribes will be looked into by Child and Family Services Department staff.” On Sept. 5, 2013, German police raided two communities belonging to the Twelve Tribes and removed 40 children to protect them from continued abuse.”
“Men and women work long hours 16-18 hours with no wages and little if any medical care. Members give everything and receive nothing in return except dances, hugs, baked squash, millet, beets, maggot infested potatoes, teachings and house arrest. The twelve tribes routinely use people and then cast them aside as weak.”
You are a brilliant writer/author/editor, Jessica, and you are correct, “This is a story about a new business in Savannah,” not an expose. Cheers
To each it’s own. No one or org is perfect. They are good people and have their faults….But I know for a fact they have saved many peoples lives who have been on drugs and alcohol. They do not hold a gun to your head. You can leave any time….God Bless them….in my opinion….
Having grown up in the Twelve Tribes and escaping myself, I’d like to thank the people who have done their homework on the cult and know what it is truly about. It is not the pretty picture they’d like you to believe. The kids there are severely abused, mentally, emotionally, and certainly physically. They are controlled by sociopathic leaders who are in it for the power and wealth that having a bunch of slaves, provides. Everyboby on the outside is given a message, conducive to what would be appealing for that particular individual to hear, in order to persuade them to join. The kids in the group are given no real education, so it makes it nearly impossible for them to leave or function on their own. The women are completely controlled by the men, and told they are nothing without them, and the men are duped into believing the have a purpose for god, when really they’re there to make the cult more money. I feel it’s important to know both sides to every story and not think just because something looks good or people are smiling and saying one thing, that there isn’t a terrifying, painful, damaging other side to it.
You should be ashamed of yourselves for painting this dangerous cult as harmless as you have here. Do your due diligence as a reporter and tell the WHOLE story about the Twelve Tribes. This is DANGEROUS.