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Yaupon History & Fact Sheet

Only Tea Plant Indigenous to the US
Did you know that before the US Civil War yaupon was the most popular kind of tea in the South? It was even being exported to Europe and Asia? Today, yaupon exists as the only tea plant indigenous to the United States. Yaupon grows wild throughout the South of the US from Virginia to the coastal areas of Texas.

A Longer Shelf Life
Because of the high level of antioxidants found in yaupon our teas have a longer life-span whether refrigerated or unrefrigerated, making it a better value than commercial teas. Refrigerated, our unsweetened yaupon teas can last for up to three weeks. Unrefrigerated unsweetened yaupon tea can last up to a week.

A More Robust & Satisfying Flavor
Our yaupon teas possess a much richer and complex flavor that satisfy even the more finicky palate while pairing superbly with a wide variety of foods. Yaupon also holds a great many medicinal properties that make it a healthy alternative to sugary drinks, especially for children. With the addition of chicory in select varieties, Emerald Coast Tea Company yaupon teas are 100% from the heart of the South!

High in Antioxidants
Yaupon is also high in antioxidants; almost 40% higher in anti-oxidants than traditional green teas. And some studies have shown that yaupon delivers a lower dose of caffeine in a more effective way that does not produce the "jitters" associated with the consumption of coffee or other traditional teas.

Additionally:

  • Yaupon has Anti-Inflammatory Properties Studies have shown that the quercetin and kaempferol 3-O-rutinosides contained in yaupon affect the inflammatory process that can be associated with many diseases including colon cancer.
  • The high levels of antioxidants assist in preventing the ravages of osteoporosis by staving off many destructive properties associated with bone tissue loss.
  • Yaupon's quercetin and kaempferol 3-O-rutinosides help promote good liver health and can aid in the management of inflammatory diseases while affording protection against oxidative damage to the liver.

Yaupon: 'The Black Drink'
Native Americans called yaupon tea "the black drink." The name of Florida's most famous Native American, Osceola, meaning "Black Drink Crier," is based on yaupon. The Spanish called the tea "cassina," and residents at Tallahassee's Mission San Luis drank it more than a 100 years before the Seminoles moved south into Florida.

"The flavor profile, I don’t think, is too far off from a black tea. The tannin structures are a little bit different."
- Jason James, Owner of The Odd Duck Restaurant from an article published by NPR