What is guayusa? The Amazon leaf behind Peak Hype

Before sunrise in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Kichwa families gather round a fire while a pot of guayusa comes to the boil. Cups are passed around, the elders tell stories, and last night's dreams are talked through as the day gets planned.

Guayusa (say "gwhy-you-sah") is the leaf of a caffeinated holly tree from the upper Amazon, and it makes a smooth, gently sweet drink with a lift similar to coffee. It is also the leaf in every can of Peak Hype, and the reason Peak exists at all.

The quick version

• Guayusa is a rainforest holly from Ecuador, Peru and southern Colombia, and a cousin of yerba mate.
• People have treasured the leaf for at least 1,500 years.
• Kichwa families traditionally drink it together at dawn, sharing dreams and plans for the day.
• It tastes earthy and mellow, and a strong mug can hold as much caffeine as a coffee.
• Peak Hype gets all of its caffeine from guayusa, served cold in a berry citrus can.

What is guayusa?

Guayusa is a tree in the holly family that grows wild and in family gardens across the upper Amazon. It is one of only four hollies known to contain caffeine, which makes it a close relative of yerba mate, the drink friends share from a gourd in Argentina and Uruguay.

A 2025 review describes bundles of carefully prepared guayusa leaves found in a healer's tomb in the Bolivian Andes from around the year 500, far from the rainforest where the tree grows. The leaf was clearly worth carrying over mountains.

Why is guayusa called the Night Watchman?

Amazon hunters gave guayusa its nickname because it kept them alert on long hunts after dark. Picture sitting still in the forest at night, listening for the smallest movement, with a warm cup of leaves for company.

Some Amazon peoples also drank it in rituals meant to bring dreams of a good hunt, and a Jesuit missionary writing in 1682 described people in the region drinking it several times a day.

How do Kichwa families drink guayusa?

The morning ritual is called guayusa upina, which simply means the time to drink guayusa. A 2026 study of Kichwa families in Napo province describes everyone rising at dawn, brewing the leaves over an open fire and drinking from a gourd cup called a pilche. One grower remembered grandmothers getting up at two or three in the morning to light a candle beside the guayusa pot, which they held as sacred.

The tree grows in chakras, family forest gardens full of cassava, plantains and fruit trees, mostly looked after by women known as chakramamas. When a young woman starts a family of her own, her mother or grandmother traditionally gives her a guayusa plant.

What does guayusa taste like?

Guayusa is earthy, mellow and subtly sweet. It is naturally low in tannins, the compounds that make over-brewed black tea taste dry, so a pot stays smooth even if you forget about it.

How strong it gets is up to you. A light brew sits around half a coffee, while a long one can match or beat it, with roughly 50mg to 145mg of caffeine in a 250ml mug. It also carries a little theobromine, the compound cocoa is famous for. If you are curious why caffeine from different plants can feel different, read our guide asking is all caffeine the same?

Why is guayusa the leaf to watch?

For most of its history guayusa stayed close to home. That changed in 2017, when the EU approved guayusa infusions as a novel food on the strength of their long record of everyday use in Ecuador. Since then the leaf has been turning up on tea shelves and even as a botanical in gin.

It suits the way a lot of us want to drink now, with a lift from a plant with a real story that fits a run club morning as easily as a studio afternoon.

Meet Peak Hype

Our founder Louie quit coffee and drank guayusa for the first time in 2020, and he has had it every day since. He had noticed how many of us live in a loop of coffee to get going and alcohol to switch off, and that daily cup became the idea for Peak.

Hype is our lifted mood: lifted, not wired. It is a lightly sparkling berry citrus drink with 60mg of natural caffeine from guayusa, plus 250mg of L-tyrosine and vitamins B3, B6, B7 and B12, which contribute to normal psychological function. It is vegan and low in sugar, with 28 calories a can. Our extract comes from a supplier that buys its leaves from Kichwa farming cooperatives in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and we have poured Hype in its own room at Ministry of Sound.

Try Peak Hype, made with guayusa from the Amazon. Hype contains caffeine and is not recommended for children or for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Common questions

Is guayusa the same as yerba mate?

They are two different South American hollies, and both contain caffeine. Guayusa tends to taste smoother and a little sweeter.

How do you say guayusa?

Say "gwhy-you-sah". You may also see it spelt wayusa.

Does guayusa have more caffeine than coffee?

A strong brew can, and a light one has about half as much. The amount of leaf you use makes the difference.

Where does the caffeine in Peak Hype come from?

All 60mg in each 250ml can comes from guayusa leaves.