Tea Type Guide · Alternatives

Alternatives: real caffeine, no tea plant required.

Every Moody blend so far starts with Camellia sinensis, the actual tea plant. Our Alternatives don’t. They’re built on naturally caffeinated leaves from a different family entirely: guayusa and yaupon. Two hollies with real, clean energy of their own. Same steep, same care, a completely different plant.

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What makes it an alternative ↓

Guayusa & yaupon

Base plants

Medium–High

Caffeine

Bright & bold

Flavor profile

What actually makes something an alternative

A different plant, not a different process.

Every other tea type on this site, white, black, green, chai, comes from Camellia sinensis, processed differently. Our Alternatives skip that plant entirely. Guayusa and yaupon are both hollies, a small group of naturally caffeinated plants. The group also includes the better-known South American yerba mate, though we don’t currently carry a mate blend. They’re not decaf substitutes or herbal stand-ins. They’re genuinely, naturally caffeinated leaves that just happen to grow outside the tea family.

Fresh green leaves of the Ilex guayusa tree, the base of three Moody Teas Alternatives blends

Guayusa

Ilex guayusa, an Amazonian holly traditionally steeped by Ecuador’s Kichwa communities. The base of Peachy Keen, Berry Focused, and Piña Guayusa.

Yaupon

Ilex vomitoria, a holly native to the southeastern US Gulf Coast, dark-roasted for a deep, coffee-like cup. The base of Notffee.

A familiar cousin

Yerba mate, South America’s Ilex paraguariensis, is the most well-known caffeinated holly. Same family as guayusa and yaupon, just not one we carry yet.

Where our alternatives come from

Two hollies, two continents, plus a familiar cousin.

Guayusa grows wild and cultivated in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where it’s been steeped as a morning ritual for generations. Yaupon grows natively along the US Gulf Coast, from Texas to Florida. It’s the only naturally caffeinated plant native to North America. Neither is the caffeinated holly most people have actually heard of. That’s their South American cousin, yerba mate.

Bundles of dried Ilex guayusa leaves, rolled and hung to dry in Ecuador

Ecuadorian Amazon

A naturally caffeinated holly leaf, traditionally steeped at dawn. The base of Peachy Keen, Berry Focused, and Piña Guayusa.

Ilex vomitoria, yaupon holly, showing its small scalloped leaves and red berries

US Gulf Coast

Yaupon holly grows wild from Texas to Florida. Fair Trade dark-roasted for Notffee, our coffee-alternative blend.

Yerba mate leaves steeping in a traditional gourd with a bombilla straw

A familiar cousin

Yerba mate, Ilex paraguariensis, grows across Argentina, Paraguay, and southern Brazil. It’s the best-known caffeinated holly, though not one we currently carry.

How to steep it

Water this hot, for this long.

Every Moody alternative steeps like a straight tea: 1 teaspoon per 8 oz of water, just off the boil. Notffee runs a couple minutes longer to open up its roasted body. For a stronger, coffee-style cup, add a bit more leaf rather than steeping longer.

Loose yerba mate and a metal bombilla in a traditional gourd

Hot

Heat water to 200–210°F. Steep 4–5 minutes for Peachy Keen and Piña Guayusa, 4–5 minutes for Notffee, 5–7 minutes for Berry Focused.

Tereré, the traditional cold-steeped yerba mate drink, served over ice

Iced

Steep 2 teaspoons in 8 oz hot water for the same time as the hot method, then pour over ice for a stronger, more concentrated cup. South America already does this with yerba mate: it’s called tereré.