Partnering with Harney & Sons

By Abianne Falla Mar 8, 2026

Expanding Native Tea Through National Blending

Some partnerships introduce yaupon to new audiences. Others integrate it into long-standing tea institutions.

Our collaboration with Harney & Sons represents the latter.

For more than four decades, Harney & Sons has built a reputation for blending and sourcing teas from around the world. Their portfolio spans classic black and green teas, herbal infusions, specialty blends, and hospitality programs designed for both retail and restaurant environments.

By incorporating yaupon across multiple offerings, they are helping position America’s only native caffeine within a respected and established tea house.

This collaboration reflects a shared belief that innovation does not require abandoning tradition. It can strengthen it.

Yaupon tea being poured into a mug with a box of Texas Native Yaupon Tea, honey, and tea leaves on a wooden board.

A Growing Portfolio of Yaupon Offerings

Harney & Sons’ commitment to yaupon extends beyond a single blend.

Their current lineup of yaupon offerings include:

Yaupon Black
American Buzz
American Buzz Mint Iced Tea
Yerba Mate, Yaupon & Mint – Focus
Colonial Williamsburg Craft & Forge Yaupon Tea

Yaupon is not presented as a seasonal feature or limited experiment. It is integrated across loose leaf, sachets, specialty collaborations, and ready-to-drink formats.

For customers familiar with Harney & Sons’ global tea offerings, seeing yaupon positioned alongside established classics reinforces its legitimacy within the broader tea category.

It also signals confidence in yaupon’s long-term role within premium tea programs.

Shared Standards and Responsible Sourcing

Harney & Sons has long emphasized education and transparency in helping customers understand tea origins, blending practices, and preparation methods.

Yaupon supplied through our wholesale offerings meets measurable standards that support that transparency. It is:

Wild grown in Texas
Harvested under regenerative practices
USDA Organic
Regenerative Organic Certified
FairWild certified

These certifications reflect accountability across soil health, biodiversity protection, and ethical wild harvest management.

That shared emphasis on traceability and stewardship makes this collaboration more than a distribution relationship. It reflects aligned expectations around how botanicals should be grown, harvested, and introduced to consumers at scale.

Two yaupon tea glasses cheer-sing together.

From Tea House to Restaurant Menu

Yaupon’s integration into Harney & Sons’ programs extends beyond their website.

Through hospitality partnerships, yaupon reaches restaurant environments where ingredient sourcing and beverage quality are central to the guest experience.

One example appears within sweetgreen, where Harney & Sons’ Jasmine Green Tea includes antioxidant-rich ingredients such as organic soba and wild grown yaupon.

In that context, yaupon complements jasmine green tea rather than replacing it. It contributes depth and domestic sourcing integrity within a beverage program aligned with Sweetgreen’s plant-forward philosophy.

This movement from:

Wild Texas harvest
To established tea blending
To national restaurant programs

illustrates how yaupon can scale responsibly within modern wholesale systems.

Strengthening the Domestic Tea Landscape

Yaupon offers something distinctive within the broader tea category. It is a domestically grown caffeine source rooted in regenerative harvest practices.

By integrating yaupon across multiple blends and hospitality programs, Harney & Sons positions native tea within established tea traditions rather than outside them.

This collaboration shows that scaling a botanical does not require compromising sourcing standards or identity.

Abianne Falla drinking tea while sitting on porch

Looking Ahead

Yaupon’s modern resurgence depends on thoughtful integration into existing tea traditions.

Collaborations with respected tea houses like Harney & Sons demonstrate that native tea can stand confidently alongside globally sourced blends while maintaining its regenerative and cultural roots.

From wild harvest in Texas to premium tea programs and restaurant menus across the country, this partnership expands access to responsibly sourced, domestically grown caffeine.

We are proud to build that future together.

Interested in incorporating regenerative, FairWild certified yaupon into your tea or wholesale program? Learn more about becoming a CatSpring Yaupon wholesale partner here.

Back to Yaupon

FAQs

Yaupon (pronounced yō-pon) is a naturally caffeinated herbal tea made from the Yaupon Holly—the only plant in North America that offers a native source of caffeine. Rooted in centuries of Indigenous tradition, it’s known for its smooth, welcoming flavor and gentle, steady lift.

Here’s what people love about it:

Grows wild in Texas’ sandy-loam soil
Hand-harvested and gently roasted for smooth flavor
Naturally sweet and always smooth, never bitter

In Summary, Yaupon tea is a uniquely American, naturally energizing brew that’s smooth and enjoyable to drink.

Yaupon is naturally tannin-free, so it never becomes bitter—a key difference from green or black tea. It delivers the antioxidant benefits people look for in tea, but with a smoother, naturally sweet flavor and none of the astringency.

What sets it apart:

Combines the benefits of green and black tea while avoiding the downsides of each (bitterness, jitters, & sustainability concerns)
Yaupon is rich in antioxidants that combat oxidative stress and promote overall health & longevity
Powered by a rare trifecta of caffeine, theobromine & theacrine for a joyful, steady energy you won’t find in other teas

In Summary, Yaupon offers the benefits of tea with a smoother taste and cleaner energy, without bitterness or environmental strain.

Yes, Yaupon naturally contains caffeine—about 25 mg per 8–14 ounce cup—alongside theobromine and theacrine, a rare trio of naturally occurring compounds that create a joyful, steady lift.

What makes it special:

Naturally occurring caffeine
A smooth, steady upward feeling
No spike-and-crash pattern
Supports focus, clarity, and presence

In Summary, Yaupon provides a smooth, steady energy unlike anything found in traditional teas.

Modern research is beginning to affirm what Indigenous communities have known for generations—this is a plant that gently nourishes, sip by sip.

Why people feel good drinking it:

Naturally rich in antioxidants, polyphenols, and beneficial alkaloids
Tannin-free, making it smooth and easy on the stomach
Offers joyful, gentle caffeine without the spike or discomfort
Supports clear focus, balanced mood, and grounded energy

In Summary, Yaupon is a naturally giving plant, trusted for generations to offer clarity, steadiness, and gentle nourishment.

Learn More Here

Some teas demand precision—Yaupon isn’t one of them. Hot or iced, quick or slow, Yaupon simply meets you where you are.

What makes it so easy:

Stays smooth and clear, no matter the steeping time
Never becomes bitter or astringent
Consistent and clean whether served hot or iced

In Summary, Yaupon is effortlessly easy to brew—always smooth, always steady, and impossible to over-steeped.

Yaupon Tea Brewing Guide

Yaupon carries a smooth, naturally sweet flavor that reflects the Texas landscapes where it grows.

How each roast shows up in the cup:

Pedernales Green — crisp + bright
Clean and refreshing with delicate grassy notes, subtle savoriness, and a bright, earthy finish. A calming, green-hued cup inspired by the quiet limestone banks of the Pedernales River.
Lost Maples Medium Roast — golden + mellow
Smooth and warm with caramel, raisin, and toasted nut undertones. A mellow, comforting cup echoing the golden colors of Texas’ iconic Lost Maples in autumn.
Marfa Dark Roast — rich + toasty
Elegant and deeply roasted with warm, nutty sweetness and a subtle, earthy complexity. A sophisticated cup honoring the creative spirit of Marfa’s high-desert landscape.

In Summary, every cup of Yaupon reflects the Texas landscape—crisp, warm, or richly toasty, yet always smooth.

See What Customers Are Saying

Our Yaupon is wild-harvested across native Texas lands, where it thrives in sandy-loam soil without irrigation or chemicals. Each harvest reflects careful stewardship of the land and the long Indigenous traditions of gathering Yaupon in the American South.

Where it begins:

Transparent, traceable sourcing from leaf to label
Partnering with local ranchers and land owners to gather only what nature allows—by hand, respectfully, and sustainably
A People First Employment Initiative process that supports rural Texans

In Summary, our Yaupon comes straight from wild Texas landscapes where every cup reflects connection—to land, community, and nature.

Yaupon thrives in the wild without the need for irrigation, fertilizers, or pesticides, making it inherently sustainable. Through responsible wild-harvesting and Regenerative Organic Certified practices, Yaupon helps restore soil health and support native ecosystems.

What makes it regenerative:

Harvested from existing native ecosystems, not farmed fields
Leaves plants rooted and ecosystems intact through hand-harvesting
Supports healthy soil, carbon capture, and clean water cycles

In Summary, Yaupon isn’t just sustainably grown—it actively supports the revival of native Texas grasslands, helping the land flourish for generations to come.

Learn more about our sustainability practices here.

We hold our yaupon to some of the most rigorous standards in food and agriculture. Our leaves are certified USDA Organic through CCOF, Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC), Whole Kosher-certified, and screened according to AHPA guidelines for heavy metals and pesticide safety. Every batch is also tested for microbials and purity before it ever reaches your cup.

What ensures its integrity:

USDA Organic certification through CCOF
Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) practices
Whole Kosher certification
AHPA-aligned heavy metal and pesticide screening
Third-party microbial and purity testing

In Summary, our yaupon is as clean as the land it grows on—nourished by sunshine and rainwater, with nothing unnecessary added.

CatSpring Yaupon is gathered where it grows naturally—on native Texas land—rather than farmed or cultivated. We keep each plant rooted, harvest by hand, craft our roasts in small batches, and center our work on regenerative land care and meaningful rural employment.

What sets us apart: