In the lush green rainforest of the Ecuadorean Amazon, members of the Kichwa indigenous group gather well before dawn to drink guayusa tea.

The naturally caffeinated, earthy beverage is part of an early morning ritual fundamental to the Kichwa culture. The villagers, who call themselves Runa—which translates to “fully alive”—believe drinking guayusa both awakens the body and provides time for reflection of dreams experienced the night before.

“Now guayusa is helping us economically,” farmer Silverio Mamallacta says in a video posted on the website of Runa LLC, a company named after the villagers and the only one selling the tea.

It also may be helping the climate. The company sources from about 3,000 farmers who tend more than a million trees planted in “forest gardens.” Selling the tea leaves to Runa has created a new source of income for the villagers, who are now getting paid to keep their forests intact, helping them resist the pressure of selling their land to be cleared.