Brazilian tea

Noun

Brazilian tea (countable and uncountable, plural Brazilian teas)

1. The dried leaves of plants of certain species, or the tea-like infusions made from them, especially Lippia pseudo-thea (native to Brazil), Stachytarpheta mutabilis and Stachytarpheta jamaicensis.
   • The leaves of Verbascum Phoenicium, according to Pallas, are used in Siberia as a substitute for tea; and the dried leaves of Bouchea pseudo-gervao, in Brazil, in the same way as Stachytarpheta Jamaicensis, a small shrub, growing in South America. The leaves of S. mutabilis are sold in Austria...1862, Peter Lund Simmonds, Waste Products and Undeveloped Substances: Or, Hints for Enterprise in Neglected Fields, page 26
   • Brazilian (Stachtarpha^([sic]) jamaicensis), a tall, single-stemmed biennial, with spikes of blue flowers, of the Verbena family (Verbenaceae), native of the West Indies and many parts of tropical America. In Brazil it is held in high repute for its medicinal virtues, and is said to be imported...1882, John Smith, A Dictionary of Popular Names of the Plants which Furnish the Natural and Acquired Wants of Man, in All Matters of Domestic and General Economy, page 407
2. Maté, a beverage made from the leaves of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis).
   • At the Health Exhibition will be found many examples of Brazilian tea, the produce of the Brazilian holly, Ilex Paraguayensis. They may be recognized by their dull yellowish colour, and by their being in small flat fragments of broken leaf, not curled or rolled as is the case with China tea.1884 August 16, X. Y. Z., “Brazilian or Maté Tea”, in The Gardeners’ Magazine, volume 27 (New Series), number 1,007, page 451
   • MATTE, (Special sort of Brazilian tea or holly,) Bot. Ilex Paraguayensis. 747. Ildefonso Correa. Province of Paranã. MATTE. NOTE.--- These samples of Matte have been prepared in the same way that is used to prepare it for exportation to Chili[…]1876, Brazil. Commissão, Exposic̦ão universal, Catalogue of the Brazilian Section: Philadelphia International Exhibition, 1876, page 89