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A Forgotten Drink That Caffeinated North America for Centuries

atlasobscura.com

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Re: A Forgotten Drink That Caffeinated North America for Centuries

#61

Post by acdha »

dalbasal wrote: post #59
Baeocystin wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pawpaws have very inconsistent harvests, don't ship well at all, and have a very short ready to eat -> overripe time. They are also, like you note, absolutely delicious. I have two trees in my backyard. (You need two for them to pollinate and bear fruit.) But there are practical reasons why you don't see them for sale very often.

This should make them even more attractive as DIY foraging or backyard arboriculture. A fruit that is delicious and exotic, but doesn't lend to industrial/agricultural production & marketing. That's kind of what truffles and morels are.

It definitely does: here in the DC area you’ll hear and see pawpaws from people’s foraging spots which are in public locations and are carefully never discussed in detail.

Re: A Forgotten Drink That Caffeinated North America for Centuries

#62

Post by cstanton »

anotheryou wrote: post #55
Pfhreak wrote: post #3

First line of the article: Yaupon tea, a botanical cousin to yerba maté, is now almost unknown.

and the one line about its taste: "people [prefer] it over maté in a blind taste test" (but it's similar)

A few months ago, I was in Austin and met two youpon cold brew makers selling at the farmers markets. Really delicious and smooth. The plant grew wild on many of the hikes I took.

Re: A Forgotten Drink That Caffeinated North America for Centuries

#63

Post by philg_jr »

Another obscure-ish tea that is seems to be gaining popularity is guayusa (mostly being pushed under the brand Runa). It is another holly from warm regions, I think from rainforests in South America. I'm a big fan of the moderate caffeine content and the ability to steep it for long periods to get more caffeine out of it, without it getting bitter. It is amazing as a summer/warm weather high-caffeine iced tea. You can buy in loose tea form by the pound from Amazon for about $20.

Re: A Forgotten Drink That Caffeinated North America for Centuries

#64

Post by hellojason »

cstanton wrote: post #62
anotheryou wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and the one line about its taste: "people [prefer] it over maté in a blind taste test" (but it's similar)

A few months ago, I was in Austin and met two youpon cold brew makers selling at the farmers markets. Really delicious and smooth. The plant grew wild on many of the hikes I took.

Do you recall which market you went to? I’m curious to try some.

Re: A Forgotten Drink That Caffeinated North America for Centuries

#65

Post by greenwireless »

innocentoldguy wrote: post #13

I have tried youpon tea at a cafe before and even purchased it here: https://lostpinesyaupontea.com . I like Yerba Mate quite well, so I wouldn’t say youpon in better, but I would say I like it equally well. It’s definitely worth a try.

These people are great - I have ordered a bunch of yaupon from them, both light and dark. The light roast is more of a green tea flavor, while the dark roast is closer to a black tea or even coffee. The best part about yaupon is the buzz, though. It's a strong boost like coffee but without the jitters and crash that coffee can cause. It's a more lucid, feel-good stimulant with a flavor that's hard to describe. Much less bitter than coffee or even tea, it has an earthy, smokey taste that resembles yerba mate a little bit but resists easy classification. Highly recommended.

Re: A Forgotten Drink That Caffeinated North America for Centuries

#66

Post by barking »

masklinn wrote: post #49
barking wrote: post #6

I love both coffee and tea. Both caffeine drinks yet they taste nothing like one another. If it's a drink to have with food it has to be tea. For a waker upper it's coffee. At other times it's a toss up. I'd love to try this cassina be a while before we see it in Europe I'd imagine

> I'd love to try this cassina be a while before we see it in Europe I'd imagine Since it's a dried leaf similar to tea or mate you can probably get it shipped from the US, though I expect the postage will be somewhat expensive. Look for "yaupon" or "yaupon tea" as, as the article notes that's how it's called/marketed these days.

Thanks I just found a UK site selling it https://www.ancientpurity.com/yaupon-tea-green-leaf-113g-loo...

Not cheap though but it's just for curiousity sake

Re: A Forgotten Drink That Caffeinated North America for Centuries

#67

Post by freehunter »

watty wrote: post #57
mulmen wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At first glance this seems dangerous. How do you measure results of your self-medication? How do you identify substances to medicate yourself with? Have you spoken with a professional about this?

About what, caffeine? There's no difference between drinking a coke or a 30mg caffeine pill except the caffeine pill is better for you.

I think it's more about using caffeine to treat depression. Self-treating severe medical disorders can be... tricky.

Re: A Forgotten Drink That Caffeinated North America for Centuries

#68

Post by Alex3917 »

novia wrote: post #23
moultano wrote: post #4

This reminds me of the paw paw (not to be confused with the papaya which Australians call pawpaw) https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/09/15/550985844/th... It's a fruit that seems tropical, a close relative of the custard apple or sitaphal that tastes like a pina colada. Yet it grows natively all over the eastern US. It's so common that in many places it's every third tree in the forest. I grew up in peak pawpa…

I ate a paw paw once, and since then I've been trying to find a definitely identified paw paw tree so I can recognize them in the wild. The fruit was so delicious and the seeds were really interesting and unique. If any of you are willing to show me a paw paw tree in person, please shoot me an email.

Just go to your local botanical garden or arboretum. They’re super easy to recognize because the leaves look like giant exclamation marks. Sometimes you’ll see them planted near magnolia trees or Buckeyes, both of which also have big leaves, to ‘hide’ them so that people don’t eat the fruit.

Re: A Forgotten Drink That Caffeinated North America for Centuries

#69

Post by heymijo »

moultano wrote: post #4

This reminds me of the paw paw (not to be confused with the papaya which Australians call pawpaw) https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/09/15/550985844/th... It's a fruit that seems tropical, a close relative of the custard apple or sitaphal that tastes like a pina colada. Yet it grows natively all over the eastern US. It's so common that in many places it's every third tree in the forest. I grew up in peak pawpa…

Come to southeast Ohio and you will see that pawpaws are far from forgotten. Bumper stickers on cars are common and there's even a Pawpaw Festival each September.

https://www.ohiopawpawfest.com/

Re: A Forgotten Drink That Caffeinated North America for Centuries

#70

Post by maxerickson »

chris_wot wrote: post #39

Holy crap, they are right! The OED does mistakenly define yaupon as having emetic properties! https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/yaupon How does one get the OED fix such an obvious error?

I imagine you just have to tell them about it.

That should be the case, if they are actually as serious as they act.

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