Yaupon Holly Tea-tasting

For thousands of years, Native Americans in North America have prepared a hot tea-like beverage from the continent's only caffeinated plant, Ilex vomitoria, a yaupon holly native to the Gulf Coast. Archaeological residue analysis of pottery finds that yaupon holly was traded over hundreds of miles and consumed for ceremonial and medicinal purposes. Roasted and prepared much like tea or coffee with about one-third the caffeine of these other beverages, yaupon holly tea has been used in place of them since Europeans first arrived in the New World, as well as by soldiers during the US Civil War, and in the early 20th century, when it was promoted in place of imported tea. Today, it can be purchased in grocery stores and from online retailers.