Timucuan Black Drink

In the lower left-hand corner, a pot of the Black Drink brews as the Timucua men imbibe their favorite beverage. At least two of Indians are vomiting. In the lower right-hand corner, some French soldiers look on.

FLORIDA CAFFEINE -- The Timucua drank a special, black-colored drink with caffeine. This beverage was simply called the Black Drink. It came from an evergreen tree, the Yaupon Holly. This is one of the few plants native to North America that contains caffeine.

Only Timucua men could partake of the Black Drink. Like modern people with their coffee, native men gathered in the morning and sipped the Black Drink, discussing important things. They did so partly for a "pick-me-up." Timucua men probably ate only one meal a day, usually at night. They needed the caffeine in their systems. (Most likely, the women & children ate more often. They didn't usually sit down for a meal, but munched whenever they were hungry.)

The Black Drink served other purposes too. Caffeine, as well as a hot liquid, helps to raise a sweat. In Timucua culture, perspiration permitted a drinker to become clean. According to the Timucua, sweat would rid someone's system of both physical & spiritual impurities. It would clean out the dirt in the skin and empty a person of his fear & laziness.

UPCHUCKING -- The men may've also used the Black Drink in order to vomit. If someone quickly imbibes a large amount of a hot, caffeinated liquid, he will probably throw up. Timucua males might have planned on this before going to battle or on a very important hunt. They could have believed that vomiting cleanses spiritual contamination.

According to other researchers, however, the men tried not to throw up. This would've been a sign of weakness.

(Until the mid-1800s, incidentally, many American doctors used vomiting as a purge for physical impurities. They also tried to clear a patient of impurities through through extreme bleeding, blistering, sweating, vomiting, and defecating.)