Black drink was the name given by the English and Americans to a ritual beverage brewed traditionally by the Indians of the southeastern United States. They prepared it from the roasted leaves and stems of the yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria), native to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The active ingredient is caffeine. Black drink was used as a substitute for coffee and tea by southern colonists under the name cassine.
———Prior to the nineteenth century, this beverage was consumed during the daily deliberations of the village councils and at all other important council meetings. Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, and others believed it purified the drinker and purged him of anger and falsehoods. Black drink was prepared by special village officials and served in large communal cups, frequently made of conch shell The men in council were served in order of precedence, starting with important visitors. They consumed large quantities at a sitting. Afterward, they purged themselves by vomiting.
———The name black drink was also applied to a variety of other ritual beverages by the southeastern Indians from other plants. In the 1830s, the use of the black drink was abandoned when the tribes removed to Oklahoma, where the yaupon holly does not grow. Still, other ritual beverages (sometimes also referred to as "black drink") continue to be used in traditional rituals in both the Southeast and Oklahoma.

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