Bobby G Spills the Tea

Steeped in Community: How Rise Yaupon Is Growing Something Bigger

I’m not really a tea guy. So when we got to Rise Yaupon in Edgewater and Shelly Steele handed me a cup, I wasn’t sure what I was going to think. I took a sip, and the first thing I noticed was what wasn’t there: no bitter finish. I took another sip just to make sure. Yep, still good. I asked Shelly about it, and that pretty much started the tour.

Yaupon, pronounced “YO-pon,” is the only caffeinated plant native to North America. Shelly explained that it doesn’t have the tannins that give traditional tea that bitter finish. You can actually leave the bag in your cup, keep adding hot water and get several servings out of it. I had no idea.

My wife, my in-laws Craig and Gwen, Kelsey and I headed outside with Shelly, where she showed us yaupon growing right on the property. That was probably the first thing that really surprised me. This isn’t some exotic plant they’re having shipped in from the other side of the world. It grows wild right here and has been used for thousands of years.

Inside the Rise Yaupon Tea Production Process

Shelly showed us how to identify it, the differences between male and female plants, the berries, different varieties and how wild bees help pollinate it. Some yaupon can grow 25 to 30 feet tall. Once she pointed it out, I started realizing how much of it I’ve probably seen without ever knowing what it was. So now I’m looking at landscaping differently, spotting it everywhere I go. “Yep, that’s yaupon.” I’ve had about a 15-minute education at this point, so obviously I’m an expert.

From there, we went inside to see what happens after it’s harvested. Rise works with local harvesters from around the area who bring in freshly picked leaves. They’re weighed, washed, sanitized, dried and sorted before being processed. And this is where you start realizing Rise really is a family operation.

Shelly’s dad, Mark, has helped create and modify some of the equipment they use, including a system for separating the leaves from sticks and berries. Basically, they had a job that was a pain in the butt to do by hand, so Dad figured out a better way. That’s usually how the best inventions happen.

Shelly’s mom isn’t sitting on the sidelines either. She was right there in the work area with everyone else, helping with the tea, bagging and packaging. Dad’s building things. Mom’s working alongside the crew. Shelly’s running the business. Apparently nobody in this family got the memo about taking it easy.

But the more we walked through Rise, the more interesting the story became. Part of what Shelly has built is a way for people to earn money harvesting yaupon, including people who may need a second chance. Her expectations are pretty simple: be clean and sober, have permission to harvest where you’re harvesting, bring in good leaves and do things the right way. She isn’t overly concerned with what somebody did years ago. I liked that. Everybody talks about second chances. It’s cool to see somebody actually giving them.

Creating Jobs and Giving People Second Chances

Rise also creates jobs for people with special needs, seniors and others who may have had trouble finding the right work environment. We met Alexis, and I asked her what she liked about working there. Her answer was pretty simple: the people. She talked about everyone being nice, positive and enjoying working together. After being there for a while, you could see exactly what she meant.

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Everyone seemed comfortable. Everybody had something to do. People helped each other out, and Shelly’s mom was right there among them. Nobody looked like they were counting the minutes until they could leave. That’s usually a pretty good sign.

Healthy Kick: A Rise Yaupon Bestseller

We kept moving through production into the blending room, where everything is measured by weight and mixed in small batches. Their bestseller is Healthy Kick, made with yaupon, cinnamon, ginger, rose hips, rose petals and hibiscus. I tried that one, too. Again, I’m not a big tea person, but I liked it. At this point, my whole “I’m not a tea guy” argument was starting to fall apart.

Then we watched the machine that fills the tea bags do its thing, measuring and filling each bag before they’re counted and packaged. And again, there was Mom, right there working with everybody else. We’d gone from looking at a plant growing outside to seeing the finished product ready to ship. For somebody who knew almost nothing about yaupon when I walked in, I thought the whole process was pretty darn cool.

Wildflour Market: More Than Just a Cafe

Then we moved over to the Wildflour, located in the same building. Run by Jamie Sue Ownby, Wildflour Market is part florist, part cafe, part sandwich shop and part gathering place, all sharing the space with Rise Yaupon. What I liked about this part of the story was how the two businesses fit together.

They’re both locally owned and women-led, and Shelly talked about the importance of women-owned businesses supporting other women-owned businesses. Here, they’re actually doing it. Rise has its thing. Wildflour has its thing. But instead of everybody staying in their own lane, they work together. You can come in for flowers and discover yaupon. Come in for tea and stay for lunch. It’s a pretty good setup, especially the lunch part.

Wildflour is also expanding the community side of things. Local musician Jeff White is involved, they’ve built an outdoor stage and they’re planning smaller live music events as the weather gets cooler. Jeff was also making our sandwiches while we were there. One minute we’re talking about music. Next thing I know, Jeff’s behind the counter making lunch. Apparently “musician” is a pretty loose job description at Wildflour. The sandwiches were really good, so I’m not questioning the system.

There was another part of the afternoon that didn’t really have anything to do with tea, flowers, music or sandwiches, but it meant a lot to me. I got to spend it with my family. Having Craig and Gwen there was great. I don’t take for granted getting that kind of time with them, and having my wife there made it even better.

Good People, Good Company and Good Tea

Our schedules don’t always click at the same time. Life gets busy. So when we get the chance to go do something together, learn something new and just hang out for a while, I appreciate it. It wasn’t anything complicated. It was just a really good afternoon with people I care about.

Before we left, I took a group picture with the staff. By then, we’d met a lot of the people, seen what they did and heard a little bit about their stories. It was a nice way to wrap up the visit, and it pretty much sums up what I took away from Rise and Wildflour.

There’s a lot going on in that building. They’re taking a plant that grows naturally right here in Florida and turning it into a local product. They’re paying local people to harvest it, giving people second chances and creating opportunities for people with special needs. You’ve got women-owned businesses supporting other women-owned businesses.

I went there to learn about yaupon tea, and I definitely did that. But I ended up learning a lot more about the people behind it, and I got to share the whole experience with my own family. That’s a pretty good afternoon in my book.

And yes, Shelly got me to drink the whole cup. Not bad for a guy who’s not really a tea guy.

Although at this point, I’m running out of evidence to support that claim.

Bobby G, out.

Rise Yaupon

Parktowne Industrial Park

504 Pullman Rd, Edgewater 32132

(386) 222-2795 | RiseYaupon.com

Mon-Fri: 9:00am-2:30pm

Sat & Sun: Closed

Factory Tours | Walk-ins Welcome

Call Ahead is Appreciated

Tues & Thurs 9:00am-1:00pm

WildFlour Market

Parktowne Industrial Park

504 Pullman Rd, Edgewater 32132

(386) 478-6047

Monday: 9:00am-2:30pm

Tues-Frid: 8:30am-2:30pm

Sat & Sun: Closed