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Drink tea, be healthy, do good…

Glass mug of amber tea beside a Rise Yaupon tea box on a wooden ledge, with lush green leaves and blue sky behind.

Tucked away in a quiet forest in the Parktowne Industrial Park is a job training and community uplift facility cleverly disguised as a family tea company: Rise Yaupon.


Gloved hand holding fresh bright green leaves over a blurred pile of harvested leaves, suggesting tea processing or sorting

Drink tea, be healthy:

Rise Yaupon makes tea from the leaves of a Florida native plant called Yaupon holly. Yaupon has been consumed as tea here for over 8,000 years; it is an antioxidant super-food with anti-inflammatory properties, and it’s North America’s only naturally caffeinated plant species (with caffeine levels about like traditional green tea). Once the center of civilization, Yaupon is now a popular landscaping shrub. Rise’s goal is to bring Florida’s ancient, historic and sacred tea back to the prominence it deserves.



Do good:

Rise Yaupon employs several crews of second-chance employees who wild-harvest Yaupon leaves in pristine natural forests here in Volusia County. They pay a living wage. The tea processing factory is a job center for seniors looking for community, high-school dropouts, autistic, deaf and other overlooked workers. Ten percent of their direct-to-consumer revenue goes towards feeding homeless kids in Volusia County.


Three women pack items at a worktable in a bright room with boxes, trays, and green packages, smiling.

Do more good:

No pesticides, fertilizers or other chemicals are used, and their tea bags are natural fiber (e.g., plastic free). They take nothing from the Florida aquifer, and don’t put anything into it. Yaupon is caffeine that doesn’t cross an ocean to get here.



Three smiling adults hold tea boxes in front of a blue Rise sign at an outdoor roadside spot with trees and grass.

A Family Business:

Rise Yaupon was founded by the Steele family and is led by daughter Shelly, who left corporate America to dedicate herself to growing this women and veteran-owned business. Together, the family is committed to creating great-tasting, healthy teas while using their business as a force for good; giving back to the community they proudly call home.



Come visit:

The USDA factory is open to visitors and offers free tours and samples. Tours are led by one of the family co-founders so you get a first hand look at the tea-making process. Additionally, Wildflour Market is the cafe within the building that “spills the tea” while making delicious sandwiches and tea concoctions. Tuesday and Thursday mornings are the best days to meet the production crew, and it is a good idea to call ahead for larger groups as they enter their peak event season.


Rise Yaupon Tea + Wildflour Market

504 Pullman Road | Edgewater, FL 32132

Open Monday–Friday - 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

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