How to make a Waysa energy drink: recipe and preparation

Introduction

What could be better than deciding for yourself how strong you want your Waysa energy drink to be? With our recipes and Waysa teas, you can make it at home just the way you like it. You choose the ingredients, save a lot of money and support Kichwa farmers in Ecuador directly, without intermediaries.

Our article “What is Waysa?” has more information about the plant and its properties. Did you know, for example, that Waysa is also called guayusa tea, the name it is better known by? So don’t be surprised if you see both names used.

Contents

1. Original Waysa energy drink with lemon
   
   1. With mint
   2. With apple or grape juice
2. Lemongrass, lemon and honey
3. Waysa recipe with orange, mint and liquorice
4. Waysa cold-brew recipe
5. Waysa ice-brew recipe

1. Original Waysa energy drink with lemon

The best way to make a delicious, energising drink is with Original Guayusa, or Waysa. For this recipe, all you need is the tea, a saucepan, some sugar and a lemon.

1. Use 6–10 g of our original PURE Waysa tea.
2. Fill a saucepan with 1 litre of water.
3. Add the tea and bring it all to the boil.
4. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
5. Leave it for another 10 minutes off the heat.
6. Strain the Waysa tea.
7. Add 2–4 tbsp of sugar, preferably raw cane sugar.
8. Cut the lemon and squeeze its juice into the tea.

The energy tea is also delicious served hot on cold days. On warmer days, let it cool and then chill it. The caffeine in 100 ml is comparable to that in Red Bull, although Waysa naturally has a noticeably different effect. Read more in our article on the effects of guayusa.

1.1 With mint

Waysa tea also works brilliantly in a mint blend. Follow the recipe above and add the mint leaves either after step 4 or after step 6, depending on whether you want a strong or just a hint of mint flavour. 

1.2 With apple or grape juice

Apple and grape juice make a delicious homemade Waysa energy drink.

The method is slightly different from the original recipe above.

1. Use 6–10 g of our original PURE Waysa tea.
2. Fill a saucepan with 800 ml of water.
3. Add the tea and bring it all to the boil.
4. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
5. Leave it for another 10 minutes off the heat.
6. Strain the Waysa tea.
7. Add 100 ml of apple juice and 100 ml of grape juice.
8. Cut the lemon and squeeze only half of it into the tea.

Delicious served hot or cold, and gives you plenty of energy for the day. 

2. Lemongrass, lemon and honey

One of the advantages of making your own drink instead of buying a ready-made one is that you can experiment with the ingredients rather than follow a set formula.

For this Waysa recipe, you can use our 50/50 Guayusa blend with lemongrass, or make your own mix with lemongrass and our PURE Guayusa.

1. Use 10 g of our 50/50 lemongrass blend, or adjust the amount to taste.
2. Fill a saucepan with 1 litre of water.
3. Add the tea and bring it all to the boil.
4. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
5. Leave it for another 10 minutes off the heat.
6. Strain the Waysa tea.
7. Now add 1 tbsp of honey and the juice of one lemon.

You can adjust the sweetness of the honey or use sugar instead. If you use sugar, we recommend panela sugar (a special raw cane sugar from South America) or ordinary raw cane sugar.

3. Waysa recipe with orange, mint and liquorice

Another interesting Waysa recipe combines orange peel, mint and liquorice. You can experiment with your own ingredients and Guayusa PURE, or use our ready-made ORANGE-MINT blend.

1. Use 7 g of our ORANGE-MINT Waysa tea.
2. Fill a saucepan with 1 litre of water.
3. Add the tea and bring it all to the boil.
4. Do not simmer the tea; turn off the heat straight away.
5. Leave it to steep for 5–10 minutes.
6. Strain the tea.

This Waysa energy drink recipe won’t be to everyone’s taste, as the orange peel gives it a bitter note. Add a tablespoon of sugar if you prefer it sweeter.

4. Waysa cold-brew recipe

Cold brew is popular for green tea and coffee, and it works very well with Waysa too. 

1. Use 10 g of our PURE, DARK, LEMONGRASS or ORANGE-MINT.
2. Fill your teapot and infuser with your Waysa tea.
3. Leave the teapot in the fridge overnight, or follow the steeping times for the variety in our brewing chart and steeping-time article.
4. Only then add sugar, honey or juice.

You can, for example, add mint to PURE and DARK. Cold brew contains just as much caffeine as a regular hot infusion, and the antioxidant level is not necessarily much higher either—this is what our study of the ORAC value found.

5. Waysa ice-brew recipe

Waysa, or guayusa, makes a great ice brew, although regular tea can be tricky to use. Our PURE POWDER works better, as does our Guayusa-Coffee Powder if you want to combine the effects of both pick-me-ups directly.

You’ll find our detailed recipe in this article: “Guayusa tea recipe – summer ice brew”.