It's astonishing that something this cute is sitting right there in front of us, jammed amongst the Queen and Ossington hodgepodge. Nestled surreptitiously on Queen West, on a block that normally sees more used appliance shops than cafés, El Almacen Yerba Mate Café is generally filled with cute couples in Levis discussing their day and MacBook users settled in at the window seats.

Take a closer look and you’ll see that what they’re drinking isn’t coffee at all, but a tea made from yerba, that eponymous herb. This signature drink - yerba mate is made from the leaves from the South American holly tree, which is only found in northeastern Argentina and southwestern Brazil, and you drink it from a gourd shaped vessel (mate) through a hollow straw like tube (bombilla). And, if we must say so ourselves, it’s pretty damn cool.

While Yerba mate is made from the leaves from the South American holly tree, which is only found in northeastern Argentina, the drinking of yerba mate is widespread in Argentina, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. In Argentina it is second only to water as the beverage of highest consumption. And now, it’s hitting our soil, mostly for the early adopters thus far.

As for the café, dark-wood and industrial chic interior lends a laptop-fueled lounging ambiance to the long and narrow space. In fact, this eclectic spot is very much a product of its surroundings. Though it’s easy to miss, expect El Almacen to become a popular meeting hangout for art gallery folk who attend nearby galleries; its setting and antioxidant drinks draw everyone from neighbourhood workers to young adults flocking here for their yerba mate high – M.P.