Yaupon
Ilex vomitoria
Toasted leaf · warming · lifting
Cassina — a holly tea with a clean caffeine lift.
In the mouth
How it tastes
Smooth, malty, earthy, lightly grassy or green-tea. Low tannin — it does not easily go bitter. A clean caffeine lift.
Traditional use
A caffeinated holly of the southeast woods. Folk and kitchen practice toasted the leaf as a daily pot, the way other houses keep camellia. The berries stay on the bush.
In the cup
Toast dried leaves lightly, then steep 1 tsp 4–6 minutes. Do not boil hard. Treat the lift like any tea.
Blood
Bitter blood · bitter
Bitter is first hot, then cold. It speeds digestion, moves lymph and waste, wakes circulation, and calls bile from the gallbladder. As that hot, caustic bile travels, the body cools — which is why the old bitter cups were given for fever. Bitter is the strongest medicine in this tradition.
Read bitter bloodReached for
Who it feeds
The living bloom
The promise
A careful hand
Ordinary tea for a healthy adult.
A holly tea. Caffeine and theobromine — treat it like any caffeinated cup. Moderate in pregnancy, nursing, and if caffeine runs you. Only the prepared leaf. Berries are not tea. The old name vomitoria is a false scare; the leaf does not make you vomit.
Read the whole promiseSits well with
Lemon
Citrus limon
The bright slice that finishes almost every stillroom cup.
Chill & congestion · Indigestion · Sore throat
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Peppermint
Mentha × piperita
The lift in the cupboard — head, belly, and a closed room.
Bloating · Indigestion · Headache
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Ginger
Zingiber officinale
The stillroom’s first answer to a cold belly or a coming chill.
Nausea · Indigestion · Chill & congestion
Warm, move, and stimulate
Cayenne
Capsicum annuum
A pinch that sends heat to the rim of the body.
Chill & congestion · Cold hands & sluggish blood · Stiff joints
Warm, move, and stimulate
Traditional kitchen and folk use only. This is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are pregnant, nursing, on medicine, or unwell, ask a clinician before drinking anything as a remedy.