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FOOD & DRINK » FOOD & DRINK STORIES Email Print Share photo courtesy of Gezellig Cookies Orlando-made edibles sure to warm the cockles of your friends’ and family’s hearts  Local Gift Guide 2017 By Jessica Bryce Young @jby789 GEZELLIG COOKIESCassandra Plas, a Dutch-Canadian expat now living in Orlando, makes stroopwafels. If you know what a stroopwafel is, stop reading and go buy a bunch. If you don't know what a stroopwafel is: It's a gooey layer of caramel sandwiched between two thin, crisp waffle-patterned cookies ... now stop reading and go buy a bunch. You can order online or buy at severaown, listed on...

DRINKS Yaupon Tea The mellow-buzz brew that once fueled Native Americans is making a comeback.   CATSPRING YAUPON/USED WITH PERMISSION 229 It’s an undisputed fact that the United States is a coffee country: American adults average three cups every day. But that wasn’t always the case. Before the arrival of Columbus, indigenous Americans’ caffeinated beverage of choice was a holly-based tea known as cassina. Also known as yaupon, cassina is a close relative of the popular South American holly-based tea, yerba maté. Both dark brown drinks have an herbaceous, complex flavor and a mild, jitter-less buzz. And yet, yerba maté has survived, and thrived,...

Orlando Sentinel - October 16, 2016 Joy Wallace Dickinson Florida Flashback   I recently saw a humorous birthday card depicting a woman of a certain age, wrapped in a fuzzy bathrobe, who appears poised to pour an entire pot of coffee directly into her mouth. As a shameless caffeine addict, I could relate. And I loved learning about the revival of a caffeine-rich drink with roots deep in Florida's history: yaupon holly tea. "It's the only caffeinated plant native to North America," says Bryon White, who with his brother, Kyle, reintroduced centuries-old yaupon tea into Florida commerce in 2012 for...

That's some cup of tea: Strong, black brew boasts rich history in Florida An interpreter at Mission San Luis in Tallahassee examines… ( Joy Wallace Dickinson,…) February 3, 2013|Joy Wallace Dickinson, Florida Flashback I drink too much coffee. And I make it strong. It's so strong that members of my family have been known to take a sip and tactfully slip around the corner to the popular shop sometimes known as "Charbucks" in search of a kinder brew. So perhaps my coffee addiction explains my excitement at recently tasting some real Florida caffeine: not coffee but the yaupon holly tea...