 Guayusa Tea
Page 2: Overview & Health Benefits
Guayusa Tea Overview
Some food producers like to test writers like us, to see if we know our stuff. A few years ago, a manager from Guayaki Maté threw this one at us:
Name all the foods that contain natural caffeine. There are six.
We knew the answer: cacao (in chocolate products), coffee, guarana (a component of energy drinks), the kola nut (used to make Coke and other colas), conventional tea (Camellia sinensis) and yerba maté.
But it turns out that we were both wrong.
There’s a seventh member of the sorority— guayusa—and no doubt, more members will be found in the as-yet unexplored jungles, valleys and mountains of the world.
The Morning Libation
The morning hot drink is a ritual common to many societies. Italians stop at the espresso bar, Brits at the tea salon, Americans at a coffee shop, a deli or around the workplace coffee pot.
A much older tradition—more than 4,000 years old—starts the day among the Kichwa people of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Before the workday begins, the guayusa farmers gather at dawn for a daily sharing of storytelling, music and learning. The meeting takes place around a communal fire, with a large boiling pot of guayusa tea. The tea is served in handmade gourd cups. This tradition is what Kichwa say makes them “runa”: fully living human beings.
These indigenous farming families then attend to the work of the day, under the canopy of the Amazon rainforest. At harvest time, they hand-pick guayusa leaves from the rich soil of their ancestral lands.
The Runa Tea project, which has brought guayusa to America, began in 2008, when a team of students participated in this ancient tea ceremony with the Kichwa in the Ecuadorian rainforest. There, the two groups developed a vision to share guayusa tea with the outside world.
You’ll enjoy sharing this rich-tasting tea. Each variety—Citrus Ginger, Peppermint, Spice and Original—is refreshing and delicious. Your purchase supports an ancient culture and its traditions, helps small farmers and helps to maintain the integrity of the Amazon rainforest.
All this, plus an energizing hot drink!
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Like chai tea? Try Guayusa Spice. The other varieties include Ginger Citrus, Original and Peppermint. Photo by Leah Hansen | THE NIBBLE. 
