Traditional Timucua Yaupon

Unsure of what this even was, I had to look online to figure out how to brew it.
The experience was like the first time I ever drank guayusa; a new experience that makes it better simply because it was the first time.

This is a very alive earthy tea being that it is very grass like, but not a fresh grass… if that makes sense.
I’m unsure if this tea would continue to taste this way, but I feel like a comparison between high grade guyusa and mate would be in order to find out which of the three I actually prefer. The memory of each one, in taste terms, has deteriorated a bit as I have drank a lot of puer which is a much different type of drink.

I’ll probably end up buying some of this at some point to share with others because it doesn’t seem to be as popular as other teas around.

I have never heard of this before! I absolutely love cultured brews. The history and tradition just creates an amazing experience for me. I really wish I had a gourd; because this would be really good. I made due with my modern brewing vessels. The leaf is incredibly unique. It literally looks right off the bush. I can see the veins in the thin jade leaves. They carry a strong grass aroma. I brewed these up and drank heartedly. The flavor is deep and herbaceous. The liquor is a pale citrine. This brew had undertones of soft wood and grain with a yerba mate sweetness. I love this stuff! I am so happy I was able to try it!

Looks like the forums are not working with Steepster now… so I’ll just keep trucking on these teabox teas.. hopefully they will work soon so I can start working on the teabox list for round #4.

Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox Round #3 – Tea #16
I get to try the plain yaupon too. The leaves look like leaves I went to the yard and picked.. I can see the leaf veins, while with a guayusa or yerba mate I don’t really see that. This one does not get overbrewed like the other types. The cup of the color remains a light green with both steeps, while a guayusa would get really dark. The flavor is unique and interesting… it’s like a light vegetable mixed with hints of cantaloupe. The second steep remains sweet like the first but there is a hint of brothiness like a tomato soup. Super smooth. I can see people liking this one even if they don’t like yerba mate or guayusa. I really like this! I’ll have to keep yaupon in my mind as something to look for in the future, but searching ‘yaupon’ seems to really only have results for the two teas I’ve tried. These two teas seems to be a rarity, so I hope others give them a try in the teabox!
Steep #1 // 1 tsp // 10 min after boiling // 2 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 5 min

YAUPON! What is this stuff? It’s from the yaupon holly plant and is native to the USA. This particular Yaupon is wild grown in Florida. Organic and Sustainable. I was excited to first sample yaupon at the World Tea Expo!

I find the flavor similar to guayusa – it’s got that creamy sweet finish. However yaupon has a wild, fresh, herby, vegetal grassy taste kinda like a mate. Big caffeine hit too – yowza!

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/timucua-yaupon-yaupon-asi-tea/

If you like mate and guayusa, you’ll very much like Yaupon. I find this tea a little hard to rate as this is the first yaupon I’ve tried so far.