Meet Milonga: The Argentine CBD-Infused Yerba Mate That's Captivated Miami

By Hernán Panessi via El Planteo.

"Milonga has a rare story," warns Shadi Atassi, an American soccer player of Syrian origin and Argentine family who designed (with his father) the first organic yerba mate with CBD in the United States. "It's a different and unique fusion worldwide," he argues.

All over the world?

Yes, there are some in Uruguay, but they do something else. They mix hemp leaf with yerba mate leaf. It doesn't mean that there is CBD in there. Ours is a different process. We are the first ones to conduct this organic process to make a yerba mate infusion with CBD extract.

Okay, here we go again: Milonga, then, is the first organic yerba mate with CBD in the world.

Preaching About Yerba Mate 

Raised in Miami, where his family still lives (Shadi is half Argentine, half Syrian), and with a professional career as a soccer player in Spain's third Andalusian division, has always been obsessed with yerba mate (in Spanish: yehr·buh maa·tay).

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In his travels around the world, he became a kind of preacher of this herb that he likes so much. 

"I got to drink mate (as people call it in Spanish) as a child because my mother drank it at home. I always experienced it as something nostalgic. I also saw Messi and Suárez drinking it. I did not like mate until I lived in Banfield’s F.C. boarding house. In Banfield, I was with other soccer players from the rest of the country, people from distant places like La Rioja, Salta or Mendoza. If in Buenos Aires people drink mate, folks in the rest of Argentina drink three times as much", he recalls in perfect Spanish.

Throughout his soccer experience, a mix of the sentimental and the cultural, Shadi incorporated mate to his routines. "It's an excuse to talk, it's a sign of confidence. Instantly, I understood the importance of mate for Argentines," he says.

Mate and CBD

Shadi was raised by a family of organic gardeners and CBD was always close to him. In fact, his father, Samer, uses CBD products to soothe his muscular pain, "instead of using pharmaceutical pills".

Meanwhile, the expansion of the cannabis culture in North America led the family to bring Shadi’s two passions together and take on the Milonga project. 

"We offer a product that is transparent. We explain the infusion process, we want to offer the public something that is unique and delivers clear benefits," he says.

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It was not until the COVID-19 pandemic and in the midst of a strict quarantine, that Shadi, at the time a young soccer player at the peak of his career, had the opportunity to spend some time together with his father, (who runs the Latin America division of a company that offers anti-fraud technology).

"I was talking to my father about novel ventures, and my ideas were always around yerba mate. 'What if we mixed yerba with CBD?', we said. And, well, we found a beautiful idea. It took us a few months to find the formula, the yerba, the CBD that would give us the benefit we were looking for, the package design, and the whole identity. We wanted to put out a product that people could understand from 0 to 10," Shadi Dixit.

Anxiolytic properties

In this fusion, yerba Milonga manages to deliver a good taste and, due to the dose of CBD, generates a vibe of tranquility. 

"Among other things, Milonga serves to lower anxiety," he says. "It's a blend that identifies us."

On Milongas’ website, a bag of 7 ounces of yerba mate infused with CBD costs about USD 16.95 which is enough for 7 mates. A bag of 12 oz. costs USD 20,95 and yields about 10 servings, while the cost of a large half-kilo bag (17.7 oz.) is USD 29.75, and it yields over 14 servings. A pack of capsules retails for USD 12.95.

The fact about Milonga is that each serving has 25mg. of CBD extract.

-What about yerba mate in the US?

-In the United States, many people are familiar with yerba mate. It became a fashion to drink mate in a can, as an energizer. Latinos like to have a yerba from the United States. Seeing an American product that touches their roots gives them a sentimental twist. 

-What is your market?

-A lot of Latinos here in the United States. While it's a niche, it's a huge one. There are a lot of Latinos and a lot of vegans who want a healthy product. They know that with Milonga they have pure transparency. 

Milonga is consumed by curious people between 24 and 45 years old. Not to mention the CBD world, who don't want to consume chocolate or jelly beans. In Milonga they find a creative way to incorporate CBD into their diet. People in the United States are not used to drinking mate out of a cured gourd, through a bombilla [straw] like folks in other parts of the world.

Business on the rise

These days, Milonga is distributed in Germany, Switzerland, France, and the Czech Republic, among other countries.

However, it is not available yet in Argentina, or Spain, where he currently resides. "Here, topicals, creams, and oils are allowed, but not edible ones".

See also: Adult-Use Cannabis In Argentina: President Supports The Debate In Popular Show, Says Alcohol Is More Harmful Than Weed

The product lineup now also features Nespresso-compatible capsules compatible and Keurig K-Cups. 

"They will come out very soon for the people in the US that do not want to drink mate out of a cured gourd". 

In about a month, they plan to launch a CBD-free version to their line of products. 

In the medium term, they want to provide yerba mate infused with CBD in tea bags. And, in the long term, by the end of the year, yerba mate in cans.

"There is a special process for each product", Shadi clarifies.

Encuentra nuestro contenido en Español en El Planteo:

• ¿Por Qué No Existe un Emoji de Marihuana?
• ¿Quiénes Son Esas Chicas? Seis Mujeres que Trabajan Desde Adentro la Industria de la Música Urbana