Cedrón (Lemon Verbena)

Cedrón is the Spanish name for lemon verbena, Aloysia citrodora, grown in gardens across Argentina and Paraguay. It is dried for tea and also added to yerba mate. The cup is clean, lemony and light. Steeped in a covered mug at 95°C for five to seven minutes.

Origin & Story

Ask for cedrón in Argentina and you will be handed a sprig or a small bag of dried leaf: lemon verbena by its local name. In the Spanish-speaking south of South America it is also called hierba luisa, and it grows in home gardens as a plant of everyday use.

Its other home is the mate gourd. In Paraguay it is traditional to flavor tereré, the cold version of yerba mate, with crushed herbs known as pohã ñana, among them mint, lemongrass and cedrón, and blends of yerba with cedrón and lemon are sold ready-made. Hot tea from the leaf is simpler: a pinch in a cup, water, five minutes.

Fresh leaves make a lighter, greener cup than dried, and a few bruised leaves in a cup of hot water is about the simplest infusion there is.

The taste is clean lemon, without the sourness of the fruit, with a soft green note underneath. It pairs with honey, and it is as good cold as hot. A few sprigs in a pitcher of cold water make a quiet, lemony drink for a warm afternoon.

Steep 3 g of dried cedrón in 240 ml of water at 95°C for five to seven minutes in a covered mug.

Reading the Flavor Profile

These values are comparative editorial positions within our own catalog, calibrated so entries can be ranked against each other. They are not laboratory measurements.