Make your own Yaupon

Freshly Cut Yaupon branches on Ocean Isle Sound, North Carolina

Yaupon is widely available in North America and easy to cultivate in areas where winter temperatures don’t dip beneath 0 Fahrenheit. If you want to enjoy harvesting and brewing your very own it can be an incredibly rewarding and enjoyable experience. If you don’t want to go through the trouble, then stop reading this now and go order Yaupon from the few Yaupon suppliers in the South-East ( I recommend Yaupon Brothers @ yauponbrothers.com ). If you are interested in this amazing DIY hack to a free healthy caffeine source here are the steps, with options!

Dwarf Yaupon can be Identified by its colorful new growth and nearly white stems. Notice the slight serrations on the leaf edges.

1. The Identification:

   -Find your sweet caffeine rich Yaupon bush. Check out their native range HERE (thanks Wikipedia!) You will find native Yaupon growing in coastal sand dunes or along wood lines and even as an under-story scrub.

   -If you don’t live in the native zone don’t fret. Dwarf Yaupon still brews well and has been proliferated as an evergreen landscape shrub in places with winters above 0 F. However, be sure the landscape you identify your choice dwarf Yaupon in hasn’t been treated with chemical pesticides.

2. The Harvest:

   -Hand pick the cleanest largest leaves to make your tea with and place them in a bag, basket or onto a sheet on the ground.

   -Alternatively (for the impatient), prune off healthy branches and trim away fresh new growth. Remove leaves that appear chewed on by beetles or galled. ***Yaupon has an active roll in the ecosystem so you will find some insect activity from time to time but don’t be weary. If you’re out harvesting your own Yaupon you probably have the earthy roots to tolerate nature. (Strip off the leaves later or dry them while still on the branches)

Freshly picked large shade grown Yaupon leaves are ready to activate

Nicely toasted to a golden color after 10 minutes in the oven at 425 degrees F. This unlocks a rich nutty flavor.

3. The Activation

-Now you have a bunch of succulent rich evergreen Yaupon Holly leaves that you can’t make tea with yet. So here are some options:

1. Air dry: This is a great method that activates the Yaupon. After rinsing off your leaves or branches place the leaves on a drying rack or simply hang the branches upside down. Make sure where you do this stays mostly cool, dry and dark with good airflow. Keep them here until the leaves snap when you break them, this can take as long as two weeks.

2. Roast ‘em like a Native: Natives who lived in Yaupon’s natural range loved and revered these shrubs. They would pull leaves from the trees and roast them almost right away over a fire (yes, I have no citations, this is simply what I’ve heard from multiple speculative sources). To do this, get a fire going and lay the leaves on a large flat rock (which you probably don’t have, so use a ceramic pot or something) and shake them from time to time to get a good consistent roasting. You don’t want to burn your Yaupon but you can blacken it to taste. True Asi (which is some crazy brew of Yaupon, drank in spiritual ceremonies after long periods of fasting is BLACK) My Yaupon is generally prepared to the point of a nice golden color.

3. Use Your Oven: This has got to be the easiest way. Rinse your leaves and roll them around in a paper towel or spread them out to dry for a half hour or so. If you feel confident in the cleanliness of your leaves, who cares about rinsing? Anything that could possibly be on your leaves is about to get cooked to death. Preheat your oven to 420 degrees. With your Yaupon spread evenly on parchment paper over a cookie pan or in a glass dish, leave them in for about 7-8 minutes for green, 8-12 minutes for gold, or longer for black. Pull your leaves out and the caffeine is activated and ready to brew.

4. Microwave: This is a great trick for any herbs you need to dry in a pinch. Lay your Yaupon evenly on a paper towel and place two paper towels on top of it. Put them in the mic for 8 seconds, wait 4 seconds. Put them in the mic for 8 seconds, wait 4 seconds. Put them in the mic 8 seconds, wait 4 seconds. You get the picture. Keep checking on the leaves, and when they snap when you try to break them, they’re ready to go. When I feel like i’m getting close and I’m checking on them after every hit of microwaves I usually go down to 6 seconds until they’re just right. Sustained microwaving will not produce optimal Yaupon so don’t think you can go 20 seconds at a time to keep from having to stand over the kitchen counter for 5 minutes turning the microwave on over and over again.

4. The Crush:

-Now your Yaupon is activated so crush it! Wash your hands, dry them, and crush those leaves into the finest oblivion you have the patience for. Putting the leaves in coffee filter can speed this up but sometimes the filter will break. Simply wrap another coffee filter around it.

5. The Brew:

-There’s no reason to go into great detail about making the beverage because it couldn’t be more straight forward. Any way you brew tea or coffee, you can brew Yaupon: Basic drip coffee makers, tea infusers, my K-cup, in a tea bag, cold brewed, french press, or strained, all make fantastic Yaupon. Do what you like best and adjust concentration for strength.

6. The Drink:

-Maybe you ordered your Yaupon and simply added hot water over a bag. Perhaps you picked up one prepared for you at a tea or coffee shop. Or could it be you hand picked each and every one of those little leaves which you needed over 100 of to make a single freaking pot! How ever you got there, you now have the sweet, long lost stimulating brew of North American soils. Relish each sip and as the caffeine, theobromine and polyphenol molecules hit the circulatory system, radiate your now stimulated positive energy with the world!