Besides tea and coffee, there are three related plants in the New World that are great at turning your swag on in the morning.

Most famous is Yerba Mate, popular in Brazil and Argentina. It can be roasted like coffee or dried like green tea and has just a bit less caffeine than coffee. A second is Yaupon, from the Southeastern US. It was originally used for Native American coming-of-age rituals that included drinking copious amounts of liquid and vomiting. These rituals have been passed on to the SEC colleges that currently inhabit the region.

Third, and the one I’m most excited about, is Guayusa (why-you-suh). If this is the first time you’ve heard of it, don’t worry. It hasn’t been available in North America. I get it from Runa, a new socially-conscious company that’s the first and sole commercial importer. Their guayusa is sustainably grown in the rain forests of Ecuador. Runa has helped 90 indigenous communities develop their infrastructure, and they help reforest 25 acres of rain forest each month. Really good people.

Why do I love guayusa tea? The indigenous Kichwa people claim it promotes mental strength and courage as well as helping you sleep when you want. And I completely agree. The first morning I woke up with guayusa, I hopped out of bed, turned my swag on, looked in the mirror and said what’s up. I know, Soulja Boy should have nothing to do with tea. But that song stuck in my head. The guayusa was like liquid confidence, but not of the alcoholic kind.

The feeling I get from Guayusa is something Prince or Carlos Santana would sing about. It’s this energetic, but yet soothing feel that’s really indescribable. It hasn’t impaired my sleep at all, nor has my heart spasmed, despite the high caffeine. So, to help introduce guayusa, I named this whole line the Swagger collection.

Amazon Swagger is straight Guayusa. It has a smooth, strong taste that hints at mint. Kind of like a Moroccan Mint green tea. Forest Spice Swagger is Guayusa mixed with cinnamon and lemongrass. I some more plans for guayusa that will be added to the store over time and I finish them up. (DECEPTION is a white tea – guayusa work in progress)

You brew Guayusa like white tea, with steaming water that’s about 190F. Steep it 5 minutes for a strong cup. You can leave it longer for extra caffeine, or take it out early for a little less swagger in your cup. The leaves can be re-steeped a few times, until the flavor gets too weak to enjoy.

Wanna buy? Go for it, you won’t be disappointed. But I understand your reluctance. So, I announce a little blog promotion… if you can get a group of at least 10 people that are interested in testing guayusa, I’ll come to you and do a tasting of it. (In Chicagoland, please. Unless you’ll paying for transportation, and then I’ll gladly go anywhere)

Offices, restaurants, home, in a park, doesn’t matter. You just have to get the people together. Shoot me an e-mail to set it up… jim@shuitea.com