Yaupon

(pronounced YO-pon) is indigenous to southeast North America. The plant grows like a bush and is in the holly family; technically, it is a perennial tree shrub with white flowers and red berries. Yaupon is similar and related to yerba mate. This species of holly is common in North Carolina coastal areas. It is an evergreen, shrub or small tree that can be from six to 20 feet tall with a diameter of about six inches.

Yaupon is the only caffeine-rich tea plant native to North America. In the late 1600s yaupon was a major part of southeastern North American Native American trade. The drink was described by Spanish and English colonists who called the beverage “black drink” (due to its dark color). Prior to the 19th century, the black drink was consumed during the daily deliberations of the village councils and at all other important council meetings. Caddo, Muscogee, Cherokee, Choctaw, and other indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands drank it for purification. The black drink was prepared by special village officials and served in large communal cups, frequently made of a whelk shell.

In order to prepare the black drink, the Indians first dried the leaves and twigs and put them in an earthen container and parched them over a fire to dark-brown color. This roasting made the caffeine more soluble; coffee beans are roasted for the same reason. They placed the roasted leaves and twigs in water and boiled it until it was a dark brown liquid. The drink then was poured through a strainer and into vessels to cool. Drinking it hot heightened its effect: caffeine is thirty times more soluble in boiling water than at room temperature. During these ceremonies, the tea was brewed into a thick, dark concoction, and the warriors had fasted for days. I would think that large quantities of a strong brew of anything could be emetic after a fast. Some have even commented that big tea companies from Europe may have suggested the scientific name, Ilex vomitoria to dissuade colonists from wanting local yaupon, to preserve their export market. It has been suggested that William Aiton– the Scottish botanist who named yaupon “Ilex vomitoria” in the late 1700s, was a secret employee of Ceylon tea merchants.

The physiological effects of the black drink are mainly those of massive doses of caffeine, which stimulates the central nervous system, exciting it at all levels. In fact, caffeine is the only true cortical stimulant known to modern medicine. It enables a person to have more rapid and clearer flow of thought, makes him capable of more sustained intellectual effort, and sharpens his reaction time. It also increases his capacity for muscular work and lessens fatigue. Moreover, some evidence suggests that large doses of caffeine speed up blood clotting. These effects from large quantities of black drink could have been important and even decisive factors in activities such as the stickball or warfare.

Since the 1950s nobody has made this tea available commercially. To revive this centuries-old beverage of the southern coast, Jan Mann who lives in Sampson County, N.C. — harvests yaupon and is beginning to sell the tea throughout N.C. This is also a tea that you can easily forage for yourself and make at home. Yaupon grows in southeastern North America and can be found in Florida, Texas, and North Carolina.

As a small side note, Yaupon has been found to contain high anti-oxidant levels similar to that of blueberries, and it was used by southerners as a substitute for coffee and tea during the American Civil War.

Source: www.carolinanature.com/trees/ilvo.html

Source: texasyaupontea.com/About.html