Materva is a mate-based soft drink, originally produced and popularized in Cuba prior to the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

. It has been produced in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

since the 1960s by Cawy Bottling Company.

Drink

Materva is a carbonated drink made from

yerba mate Yerba mate or yerba-maté (''Ilex paraguariensis''; from Spanish ; pt, erva-mate, or ; gn, ka'a, ) is a plant species of the holly genus '' Ilex'' native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The lea ...

, a tea popular in Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. Unlike the somewhat bitter tea-like mate on which it is based, Materva is sweet, with a flavor described as similar to ginger ale or cream soda. Current production includes a

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

version called Diet Materva.

History

The Materva Soft Drink Company was founded in Matanzas, Cuba, in 1920. Materva became known as a "famous Cuban brand" and advertising included celebrity endorsements that touted the drink's energizing properties. During the Cuban Revolution, the Materva bottling plant was targeted for strikes by revolutionaries, along with the Coca-Cola and Pepsi bottling plants in the country. Materva was produced and sold in Cuba until 1960 when it was nationalized along with other private industry. It is no longer produced in Cuba. The Cawy Bottling Company of

was founded to produce the Cawy

lemon-lime soda A lemon-lime soft drink or lemon-lime soda, also known colloquially as lemonade in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and as cider in Japan and Korea, is a carbonated soft drink with lemon and lime flavoring. Popular brands includ ...

that had been popular in Cuba. The company began producing Materva in the United States in the 1960s in an attempt to diversify after the founder of the company realized that there were many large American companies already competing with lemon-lime drinks.

Significance in Cuban and Miami culture

Materva has been described as a part of the "standard Cuban pantry", and as "the old standby Cuban soda". Because of its significance as a popular drink in Cuba prior to the Revolution, it is often cited as a source of "shared memories" and "nostalgia" of pre-Revolutionary Cuba by Cubans who live in the United States. In Miami, politicians use the drink to symbolize Cuban-ness, such as when a congressional candidate told local media in 2010 that he had spoken about Materva to President Obama during a presidential visit to the city. Travel books also often recommend the drink to visitors to Miami. In 2002, Materva was given the "Best Local Soft Drink" award by the Miami New Times.

References

{{Herbal teas Cuban drinks American soft drinks Yerba mate drinks

Drink

History

Significance in Cuban and Miami culture

See also

References