Lost Pines Yaupon Tea

Lost Pines Yaupon Tea forages yaupon, the only caffeinated plant native to North America, and turns it into tea in a variety of formats: loose leaf, tea bags, and tea concentrates.

We regeneratively wild-harvest yaupon from areas where doing so helps restore habitat for wildlife — including the critically endangered Houston Toad. Property owners usually work with state biologists on wildlife plans, which often include removing yaupon thickets to allow native trees to become the overstory again. This also reduces wildfire risk, and it means we don’t need to import our caffeine from the other side of the world.

Our light roast yaupon is similar to green tea… or, as we like to say, if green tea and yerba mate had a baby. Yaupon is actually a relative of South American yerba mate. Our dark roast is closer to black tea: roasty, campfire-y, whiskey-barrelish. Both roasts are available in tea bags or loose leaf.

We also produce a yaupon & chicory blend that works beautifully as a coffee substitute using a French press — it comes only as a loose tea, similar in texture to ground coffee.

Our tea concentrates come in several flavors: Basil Lemon, Mint Lemon, Raspberry, Strawberry, Peach (when peaches are in season), and Apple Spice. We start with fresh mint and basil, and real whole raspberries, strawberries, and peaches! In Apple Spice, we use apple juice and orange juice concentrate, along with real cane sugar. We use lemon juice as the "preservative" in most flavors, and Apple Spice has some ascorbic acid (vitamin C) from apple juice concentrate.