5 Facts About Yaupon Tea
Yaupon tea is the only caffeinated, leaf-based infusion indigenous to the United States. Tribes in the southeastern states have been preparing and drinking this holly leaf brew for centuries. You’ve probably heard of its South American cousin, Yerba Mate. It’s time to get to know Yaupon.
Here are 5 key facts about Yaupon tea.
Yaupon is a caffeinated leaf, but not from the tea plant
If you read our article on DIY tea blends, then you know that all tea comes from a single plant, the camellia sinensis, also known as the tea plant. But camellia sinensis is not indigenous to the United States. The tea plant is primarily grown in Asia, and the U.S. still imports millions of tons of tea each year from all over the Asian continent.
Yaupon, on the other hand, is a plant in the holly family. It grows abundantly in the southeastern U.S., and it’s even used commonly in landscaping as a shrub. Yep, you may have it in your yard right now.
Similar to traditional tea from the camellia sinensis plant, yaupon is made from the plant’s dried leaves. But take note: Most sources say you should avoid eating Yaupon berries.
Indigenous people have been drinking it for centuries
Native Americans had been drying and brewing the leaves for centuries when Europeans arrived. According to our friends at Lost Pines Yaupon Tea:
Many Native American tribes made use of this plant, revering its energizing, healing and magical qualities. The Cherokees called it "the beloved tree." It was used as anything from a daily social drink to an ingredient in highly ceremonial beverages collectively called Black Drink. It was drunk before going into battle, entering into new business and making important decisions.
Other sources claim that indigenous people drank yaupon along with cacao in ceremonies and consumed the tea itself as a more regular beverage.
According to the BBC Travel article, “Yaupon: The rebirth of America's forgotten tea,” “The oldest-known evidence of yaupon consumption comes from the Cahokia Mounds in Illinois, where the holly’s residue was identified inside ornately decorated ceramic vessels dating to 1050 AD.”
It’s related to Yerba Mate
There are hundreds of varieties of holly plant. Yaupon is one variety, while yerba mate comes from a different member of the plant family. The plant that produces yerba mate grows farther south, in Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina.
Mate or yerba mate has a long history in South America and is still very popular, especially in Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
You can calibrate the caffeine
Most sources say that the caffeine in yaupon is roughly equivalent to the caffeine in green tea, about 60 mg per cup. According to Lost Pines, “Yaupon contains between 0.65 - 0.85% caffeine by weight. Coffee is about 1.1% caffeine by weight.”
Of course, you can make it stronger by brewing more tea per cup of water. And, unlike teas, you can reuse your yaupon leaves for a second or third cup, with slightly less caffeine each time, perfect if you always want that extra cup, but don’t want the caffeine jitters.
You can reuse yaupon leaves because they don’t contain tannins like tea does. So, if you’re sensitive to tannins, this is great news.
When you drink it, you’re helping conservationists and farmers
If you live in the U.S., yaupon may be especially attractive because it’s more local. No long voyage across the sea required. If you’re interested in local food, you might find a source of yaupon near your home.
There are other benefits too. In some areas, like the Gulf Coast, harvesting yaupon helps farmers and the endangered Houston toad. Because it grows so abundantly, yaupon can take over fields and limit space for other crops. During a drought, a dense and dry mass of yaupon becomes a wildfire hazard.
We turn again to our friends at Lost Pines here:
“Most of the remaining Houston toads (only about 2,000-5,000 total!) live in Bastrop county, Texas, in the Lost Pines Forest area. Over time, largely because of human impact on the land, the forest has gotten out of balance and yaupon has formed massive, dense thickets, which are bad for the toad.”
In Florida, we see a slightly different story. According to the Orlando Sentinel, climate change has devastated some citrus farms. To help maintain their land and incomes, some farmers have turned to growing and harvesting yaupon.
So, enjoy sustainably grown and harvested yaupon knowing you’re drinking more locally and supporting farmers and frogs!
Bonus fact from history class
If you’re from the U.S., you probably remember learning about the “Boston Tea Party.” When colonists from England tossed all that tea into Boston Harbor, it made such an impact for a couple of reasons: No tea to sell meant no taxes to collect on the tea. But that was only meaningful because colonists drank so much tea and imported it all.
In other words, they either didn’t know about, or chose not to drink, the yaupon brew already growing on the local land. We can’t be sure why that is. But some speculate that people who wanted to continue profiting on the imported tea found ways to limit access to and knowledge about yaupon.
As more people lean towards local plants and ancient foodways, we’re excited to welcome back yaupon tea!