I am Cherokee/Chickasaw/Catawba and a Cherokee citizen and this certainly is in the history of all 3 tribes. Yaupon is also a key ingredient in the sacred "black drink".
@@b00nz0ryeah, kinda like how you're a prick that judges everyone else based on your experience, fully disregarding their own. Not knowing 1 out of thousands of wild plants? How dare they! Lol
Man! Im a disabled veteran, army combat medic. I switched to natural medicine 5 years ago when corporate medicine failed me and my wife wanted to save me. It worked, and we have both been trying to learn more and more for us and our kids. We live in north central Florida and this stuff is EVERYWHERE. I just subscribed and will be digging into your archives.
Best to you in taking back control of your health. Dr. Stephen Harrod Buhner is one particularly knowledgeable healer that helped me. He's no longer with us but has many books with great hard research. Best to you in healing. 🙏🕊️
Yes majority can be treated naturally the things like antibiotics that can't be grown or don't have knowledge to make they just charge a huge amount of money they are already making tones of money being scientist doctors and corate owners business men they don't need that much money it's money hoarding to the point of being ridiculous and evil
Uhm...I'm a old gen x'er. When growing up, we used to stay gone in the woods all day and play( in NE FL). So, it was important to forage. Your video may explain why we used to take our pocket knives, scrape only the tan/ grey bark off of yaupon (exposing the green canbium ) and chew it as a normal thing. We liked it. Now I know why...wow! Thanks bro.
I remember this show on PBS channel 11 was making a documentary about the lives of the current Native Americans and when they got to interview an elder like a medicine man. They asked him about how he gets the medicine he might need for healing and he said look behind me...that's my medicine. And he was pointing to all the brush. ❤💕💕😊❤❤❤
I've made tea from this plant back in the 90s. I didn't know what it was called, however. I read about it in a book about the Choctaw. I'm from Southeast Louisiana.
Excellent source of caffeine and theobromine that likely grows around you if you're anywhere in the south. I recommend roasting the leaves in an oven before making your tea. It really gives it what I think is a much better flavor. Thanks for another great video, Matt. You're doing the Lord's work here.
I just heard about yaupon earlier this year. I’ve made mate for well over a decade, so I was excited about a North American version. I live close to Cahokia Mounds, the largest Native American city north of modern day Mexico, and there is archeological finds that indicate the use of yaupon.
Hesce! Estongo? I am a Northwest Florida Mvskoke Creek, we still drink Cassina (yaupon Tea) today, and still use the ceremonial version, Asi ("The Black Drink"), for things like weddings and Naming Day ceremonies. just FYI, Asi is made from both the leaves and bark/twigs so has a higher concentration of caffine and other things added, and if you consume too much it WILL live up to its scientific name. Now for people that live in an area where it doesn't grow.. Yaupon tea is avaialable online (even Amazon has it) ENJOY!!!
The wood historically has also been used for arrows, turning, inlays and piano keys. Makes a really good walking stick. It really needs to be managed also to improve Turkey habitat. Planning on doing some experimentation with using it as fence posts as it is a densely grained hardwood. I think there are probably many uses for this abundant resource just waiting to be tapped into.
It seems like freezing the green leaves, then drying them, would break the cell walls enough to release the caffeine more easily. Thanks for the video. I'm always glad to know about an emergency source of caffeine. 😅
I really like your style , it's important to keep the truth about southern culture alive, as well as pointing out the fact that we've successfully, to some degree, blended cultures from the whole world into a unique one of our own.
bro no way ive seen this all my life being on the Fl panhandle. i went in my backyard after watching this and what do you know, i got 3 huge trees of it! i picked some leaves and dried them, made a tea with honey, and it was good, qnd i love how it feels! thank you man
I'm going to try it, thanks for the video.. I live in Southeast Texas and yopon is a nightmare here. After land is cleared , especially from logging , this stuff takes over. It actually grows so thick it tangles itself together and you cannot get through it. Never knew it contained caffeine. 😊 BTW here in our local area many call it " tiedye bushes " because when the red berries are on there's the mixture of the dark green tops of the leaves, sort of silver bottoms, red berries and the splotches of gray, silver and white on the bark.
I know what you mean, also in Southeast Texas. It acts like an invasive, which is just as well so it can outcompete the many invasive plants that love this warm wet climate. But if you can control the yaupon, you'll get a lot more native plant diversity in your understory. Elderberry, beauty berry, milkweeds, turkscap etc. I used to sometimes drink yerba mate, but now drink yaupon, it's the same. The South American one is Ilex Paraguariensis. I propose renaming our yaupon, "Ilex Carolinensis".
The way I heard it is that the British Tea Trade recognized that the American Colonies had a very strong competitor to their product, so they hired a botanist to change the name and then spread the story of how the indians used the drink to make themselves vomit in some ceremony. While I don't recall the specific name at the moment, if you look at the first records of Yaupon in the science journals, it wasn't always called I.vomitoria. That only happened after the British Tea empire worked their magic. And who was to argue when everyone knew you could "Trust the Science", right?!?! At the time, drinking Yaupon tea was extremely common and everyone knew it was a good tea. The black tea from India and elsewhere in the orient, was just as good, but also more expensive as you might imagine. There was a rich/poor divide as there always is. The wealthier someone was, obviously they'd want "fancy" foreign products. However, the real killer of the Yaupon tea industry was just a larger and better connected competitor. It's kind of funny, too, when you think that we're still dealing with that same kind of thing to this very day.
@@iahelcathartesaura3887 I think you'll enjoy it. I've been curious to experiment with picking leaves at different times of the years, or from different cultivars, to see how that might change the flavor and caffeine content. Maybe growing one in your yard as part of your landscape, where you can water and fertilize it regularly, will turn out a better tea than a plant struggling in the wild?
Great video, Matthew. A local Native Plant Society member (and certified UF Master Gardener) that leads guided hikes suggested a theory that the name "vomitaria" may have been created because early Europeans saw yaupon as competition for the imported teas. She also mentioned that the natives drank it everyday (without vomiting), as your reference to the 1615 remarks from the St Augustine priest.
May be that it was among the harder or more plentiful of seven herbs reportedly gathered by cherokee to make the 'black drink' that was part of ceremony and did induce vomiting. I wonder if the berries were 'vomitaria''s target?
I've been drinking yaupon holly tea for a few years, but just recently learned the connection between it and the famed Native American Osceola (Asi-Yaholo, or black drink speaker).
Great info, Matthew. I have a tree that I love. But I never knew that I could use the the leaves for tea. I'm a tea drinker and I can't wait to try it. Another reason to use native plants for landscaping...❤❤❤
THANK YOU! One of the only videos on yaupon to assert confidently that it does NOT cause vomiting. It's unbelievable how many people say and believe this. I can tell you've actually drunk it yourself plenty. I drink it almost every day. I have even tried drinking as much as my empty stomach fits of a very strong decoction numerous times, and it has never produced any sensation of nausea or need to vomit. It's an insanely underrated wild tea plant found everywhere in riparian zones in central TX.
Full disclosure... Ilex vomitoria was used in Native American rituals in order to induce visions. It was deliberately over consumed for this purpose. They may have included the poisonous berries. I drink tea made from the tea leaves, in moderation.
Have you ever tried running it through a coffee-maker? Seems like it'd be an easy way to make a pot of iced Tea and not have to deal with the leaf getting everywhere.
Fascinating video. I grew up in North Louisiana and have seen these plants my whole life. All I ever knew was that the berries were toxic. This whole time I could have been having some fantastic tea. Being a tea nerd, I can't wait to give this a try.
@@briantaulbee6452 I actually think Americans need to be educated about both Camellia sinensis (real tea) and yaupon. Both can be grown outside in most of US. Why are we importing what can be easily grown at home?
I wok roast yaupon, then simmer the crushed leaves in water for 20 minutes to end up with a very dark drink. Sometimes add a little sorghum syrup. It is as satisfying as coffee (and I love my coffee!)
You’re the best!! Your videos are short and to the point but full of information at the same time. This is exactly what I was praying for when we moved on our land 3 years ago. Thank you for freely sharing your wisdom!
Never knew this! Hope you make a video on American beautyberry and lyreleaf sage. And making jam out of native fruit. Wish I knew this channel existed, so many edible plants in the southeast that indigenous Americans used that have all been forgotten about by all but the most hardcore foragists.
I have an OLD yaupon on my property and behind me is a pond we've always called yaupon pond. I had heard you could make a tea but I zero clue about all of these benefits! I have to try it now!
Clearly the most informative channel on wild plants of medicinal and edibles available. My cornucopia enlarges with every new posting. I can’t thank you enough.
Very detailed and useful information! Few years ago I was clearing a piece of “jungle” in my backyard and discovered a little Yupon holly seedling. I haven’t harvested it yet but it is big enough to do so. Your preparation video couldn’t come at a better time. Thank you!
Just found your channel. I love this topic, but up to now you were the first guy I discovered that specifically targeted the region of the country where I am from. Looking forward to adding some local finds to my diet. BTW, do you include edible invasive species? Because I think encouraging people to seek out and consume invasive species is a great way to control their spread.
Listening to the news this morning and what do I hear?? Artillery Tea Company is now pairing up with a family owned farm in Texas and they are starting to sell YAUPON TEA!!
I live in Tennessee and was like, bummer, but then I saw a bunch near my house, it was dark but I looked close and I am going back to get some tomorrow, and I saw some goldenrod!
another lovely video!! one thing i could add to the historical context of the indigenous relationship to this holly, is that during these ritual times the beverage (which as you noted was almost definitely vomitoria + another plant) was the ONLY thing that would be consumed, sometimes for as long as 3 days i believe!! and yea as someone who has abused the coffee pot my fair share of times, if thats the only thing going into you, somethings gonna be on the way out 😂
Stick the handle of a wooden spoon in the oven door so the steam from the moisture of the leaves, be freshly washed or dry. Same with any herbs that you have to dry in the oven. Thanks for a great informative video!
Been drinking it seems my whole life and I'm 70. My grandmother started me on it. They are a invasive and a nuisance bush. We cut the limbs in small peices that will fit in 5 gallon buckets. As it dries, the leaves just fall off. We actually have 5 buckets just for that. We roast them and use them in tea balls. Darker roast gives a very pleasant taste. Nearly like coffee.
Matthew. I love your content. I have already found plants in my own yard. I have downloaded your book and the course. What a value! If you ever have a walk about I would be interested and will ask friends to join us. Thank you. Also your family is adorable.
I stumbled upon this video today, and was politely surprised to find a very useful source of information about the local fauna. I live in Calhoun County Florida and am looking forward to watching many more of your videos. I have subscribed and liked. I will share this video with my friends. Thank you for putting this type of valuable information out in the ether for us to find and enjoy.
Oxidizing the leaves (Fermented tea style) would be an interesting processing technique. In Alaska, my favorite tea substitute is bruised and fermented fireweed leaves.
OK -- you convinced me to switch from yerba mate to yaupon. Also, another tea in the same family is 'guayusa' or dream tea. I have cut back on drinking dream tea because dreaming is so intense while sleeping when drinking that tea. I'm curious how dreaming is while drinking yaupon.
We are just out of the green area of the map, in that western end of NC where you can go to Georgia without transiting SC. I will definitely be looking for these on our woodlot, which is 2200-2600 in elevation, maybe I will get luck and find a couple!
Yaupon is the 2nd most abundant plant, only 2nd to the loblolly pine trees, in the vast "Big Thicket" forests of east Texas. I doubt, though, whether many Texans know that it has beverage potential. This sounds very much like Mate ("mah-tay") which is a very popular hot beverage in Argentina, and is also a Holly bush.
Most people around here hate youpon holly 😢 I purposely left as many as I could around my property. I drink the tea make crafts like arrows, and friction Fire sets from the wood. And have made it my goal to educate as many people as I can about its benefits.
Where did you find that information, I have been doing herbal medicine for 60 years and have never seen that in any of my books about loblolly pine ... I need to know please.
Thanks for the video , but... The story you gave isn't exactly correct... It wasn't for religious purposes to purge but rather for posturing in front of outsiders to show how big a warrior he was by showing that he could eat more. I really wish that people would quit trying to understand past societies by present social practice!
There were two small companies in Texas that were offering Yaupon Tea. I'm not sure if they're still working, but it was good stuff and nicely packaged. I remember watching a couple videos on them not too long back.
I have been trying to find this plant for MONTHS to grow. Fredericksburg VA. Can't find it. Im new to the East and your vids are excellent for this Western herbalist. I tell everyone about you
A lot of nurseries don't carry it because it's not a "boxwood" being mass-produced in one of the few giant grow-ops that supply the nursery trade. You can mail-order them, or ask a small nursery to special-order one for you.
Hey Mathew, I enjoyed your video, I have Yaupon holly growing in a planter in my back yard, I Iive in California but am a Tribal member of Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma,and so it's a traditional drink for us , I purchased the plants online from Florida year ago they were just about six inches tall or so think the plants are just about big enough to start harvesting from but haven't really known quite how to go about it but your video has given me an idea or two so going to try it out with some of your suggestions
We bought a "weeping yaupon holly" (in other words a yaupon holly) from a nursery. We live in central Virginia, just at the point where it can live with the cold - it's several years old, and is growing at a decent rate. This one has berries, thus as female. Actually bought it for the caffeine, in the event of some social disruption, where caffeine might be hard to come by. Starting a few cuttings, too. Lovely plant! Well worth the price! I've only made tea once (more of a harvest when it gets a lot bigger.)
Thanks, I think I just found my windbreak plant for the fence line! I want survival type plants for city living that will be useful in emergencies. I wonder how well it will grow in Zone 6.
Excellent video. Here in east Texas we are inundated with American Yaupon. My property is covered. I certainly will be trying this. So many videos of the northern plants that you cannot find here in East Texas. Yours are very refreshing.
@@moragmacgregor6792We lived is S’port for 20 yrs! Our children grew up there. Went to University Elementary, Youree Drive Middle and Captain Shreveport High.
Absolutely love this stuff. I should watch more of this. But chem trails and turbo cancers have been taking priority. That and try to keep a garden alive . Gardening today is quite the challenge. ❤ Thank you for your work brother, it is excellent Intel.
I am of Muskogee Creek and Cherokee ancestry and grew up among those amazing and wonderful people. I learned about the use of Yaupon from my grandmother, a medicine woman, and from other older female family members I watched preparing it. Everyone uses Yaupon leaves to make a soothing tea, but there is another use for Yaupon. It is used to prepare "The Black Drink," a wicked smelling brew of green leaves, prepared only by older women who have ritually prepared themselves for the task. They chew the fresh leaves and spit out the masticated mass and their own saliva into earthen pots. These pots are stored or sometimes buried in the ground until the contents have fermented. The resulting "Black Drink" is only mildly hallucinogenic and its use is strictly forbidden to women. I suppose they get a little buzz from the preparation, though. Women don't want to drink it, really, as they say it makes men act silly. There is another variety of "The Black Drink" which is far more potent and dangerous. It can produce violent nausea, vomiting and even strong hallucinations. I am not sure of its exact content, as it was not revealed to me. I believe I know what it is, though. As a girl, I saw Yaupon berries being gathered and dried on strings, well out of the reach of us children. I believe these dried berries may have been ground and added to the original drink's recipe to make the purifying form of the drink. I have long suspected there is a very good reason only older women are allowed to make this drink and that women are not allowed to use it at all. I believe it may well be that "The Black Drink" is harmful to an unborn or nursing child. The berry recipe would almost certainly be fatal to an unborn or nursing infant. Hope this helps to round out your information!
That was absolutely amazing and awesome to read. I sincerely hope there are people recording and studying these ancient ways. I am quite certain that even with all the modern medicine in the world we could all learn things from an old medicine woman’s knowledge.
I have been researching this plant for a few months and can't find it anywhere now I know why I live in Central Missouri but it doesn't grow here. I'm definitely going to give this a try thank you for the great videos
I am Cherokee/Chickasaw/Catawba and a Cherokee citizen and this certainly is in the history of all 3 tribes. Yaupon is also a key ingredient in the sacred "black drink".
Can they be freeze dried? I freeze dry my violets, pink mimosas, lemon balm, corn silk, etc.
Yes. It's evergreen, but I dry it several ways.
Lol. Aren't we all around here? Melungeon here.
Everyone is "spiritual ". Jesus is all in all.
Right on
We have Chickasaw plums growing on our property, as well as American plums. Thanks to your ancestors!
Casually dropping the best videos on the internet 😮💨
agreed!
Totally agree 😊🎉
👆
A couple of gratuitous bobs might not hurt
Absolutely
It's so cool to realize that this is literally in my backyard!
So you’re some spoiled child who never learned in school?
@@b00nz0r What the hell is even your problem. Grow up
@@b00nz0rall of your comments on this video are so moronic they have to be bait
@@b00nz0ryeah, kinda like how you're a prick that judges everyone else based on your experience, fully disregarding their own.
Not knowing 1 out of thousands of wild plants? How dare they! Lol
Same
Man! Im a disabled veteran, army combat medic. I switched to natural medicine 5 years ago when corporate medicine failed me and my wife wanted to save me. It worked, and we have both been trying to learn more and more for us and our kids. We live in north central Florida and this stuff is EVERYWHERE. I just subscribed and will be digging into your archives.
Best to you in taking back control of your health. Dr. Stephen Harrod Buhner is one particularly knowledgeable healer that helped me. He's no longer with us but has many books with great hard research. Best to you in healing. 🙏🕊️
Look up caffeine as an alternative to toxic pesticides.
Yes majority can be treated naturally the things like antibiotics that can't be grown or don't have knowledge to make they just charge a huge amount of money they are already making tones of money being scientist doctors and corate owners business men they don't need that much money it's money hoarding to the point of being ridiculous and evil
Good on ya, brother! I’m about to dive into this for my GI issues and migraines. Thanks for signing the dotted line!
Semper Fi
Uhm...I'm a old gen x'er. When growing up, we used to stay gone in the woods all day and play( in NE FL). So, it was important to forage. Your video may explain why we used to take our pocket knives, scrape only the tan/ grey bark off of yaupon (exposing the green canbium ) and chew it as a normal thing. We liked it. Now I know why...wow! Thanks bro.
We were so blessed to be so wild, free, and self reliant. Wish this for all youth but seems TPTB are doing everything they can to stop it. 😮💨🙏🕊️
@lulumoon6942 exactly...I thought my kids would have the same thing, but it turned out to not even closely compare to how we had it.
I remember this show on PBS channel 11 was making a documentary about the lives of the current Native Americans and when they got to interview an elder like a medicine man. They asked him about how he gets the medicine he might need for healing and he said look behind me...that's my medicine. And he was pointing to all the brush. ❤💕💕😊❤❤❤
I'm blessed to be in a place where yaupon is everywhere.
I've made tea from this plant back in the 90s. I didn't know what it was called, however. I read about it in a book about the Choctaw. I'm from Southeast Louisiana.
Excellent source of caffeine and theobromine that likely grows around you if you're anywhere in the south. I recommend roasting the leaves in an oven before making your tea. It really gives it what I think is a much better flavor.
Thanks for another great video, Matt. You're doing the Lord's work here.
How much do I drink? How do I avoid the throwing up, or How much causes that? I'm ready to try it. I see it everywhere.
@@mariatorres9789like regular tea
I just heard about yaupon earlier this year. I’ve made mate for well over a decade, so I was excited about a North American version. I live close to Cahokia Mounds, the largest Native American city north of modern day Mexico, and there is archeological finds that indicate the use of yaupon.
Hesce! Estongo? I am a Northwest Florida Mvskoke Creek, we still drink Cassina (yaupon Tea) today, and still use the ceremonial version, Asi ("The Black Drink"), for things like weddings and Naming Day ceremonies. just FYI, Asi is made from both the leaves and bark/twigs so has a higher concentration of caffine and other things added, and if you consume too much it WILL live up to its scientific name. Now for people that live in an area where it doesn't grow.. Yaupon tea is avaialable online (even Amazon has it) ENJOY!!!
The wood historically has also been used for arrows, turning, inlays and piano keys. Makes a really good walking stick. It really needs to be managed also to improve Turkey habitat. Planning on doing some experimentation with using it as fence posts as it is a densely grained hardwood. I think there are probably many uses for this abundant resource just waiting to be tapped into.
‘Abundant resources’ the lie that made humanity destroy this planet while making us too ‘ignorant’ to realize it
It makes great war clubs and bows too.
@@PalmettoNDNprobably would work well for tool handles as well
When I moved from the coast into the upper coastal plains, I brought a Yaupon with me.
It seems like freezing the green leaves, then drying them, would break the cell walls enough to release the caffeine more easily.
Thanks for the video. I'm always glad to know about an emergency source of caffeine. 😅
I was so excited for the same reason but i am too far north! You lucky soul!!
Good idea
Thanks for this awesome video. Finally a plant in my area that is abundant, easy to prepare, easy to identify, & very healthy. And free!!!
I really like your style , it's important to keep the truth about southern culture alive, as well as pointing out the fact that we've successfully, to some degree, blended cultures from the whole world into a unique one of our own.
bro no way ive seen this all my life being on the Fl panhandle. i went in my backyard after watching this and what do you know, i got 3 huge trees of it! i picked some leaves and dried them, made a tea with honey, and it was good, qnd i love how it feels! thank you man
Awesome! Thank you for coming back to leave a comment. I love hearing that people are using the info!!
This is awesome I have a large property I hope I find some have these trees
Thanks for the detailed explanation of how to harvest the leaves and prepare the tea.
Thank you for watching!
I'm going to try it, thanks for the video..
I live in Southeast Texas and yopon is a nightmare here. After land is cleared , especially from logging , this stuff takes over. It actually grows so thick it tangles itself together and you cannot get through it.
Never knew it contained caffeine. 😊 BTW here in our local area many call it " tiedye bushes " because when the red berries are on there's the mixture of the dark green tops of the leaves, sort of silver bottoms, red berries and the splotches of gray, silver and white on the bark.
You maybe are missing a business opportunity there? 🤔
With coffee getting so expensive maybe you should turn that curse to a blessing .
I know what you mean, also in Southeast Texas. It acts like an invasive, which is just as well so it can outcompete the many invasive plants that love this warm wet climate. But if you can control the yaupon, you'll get a lot more native plant diversity in your understory. Elderberry, beauty berry, milkweeds, turkscap etc.
I used to sometimes drink yerba mate, but now drink yaupon, it's the same. The South American one is Ilex Paraguariensis. I propose renaming our yaupon, "Ilex Carolinensis".
@@markm8188Yep, there is a business doing just that in SE Texas - CatSpring Yaupon Tea.
I can just see it now! Yaupon Tycoon! 😂 You'll be a millionaire!
The way I heard it is that the British Tea Trade recognized that the American Colonies had a very strong competitor to their product, so they hired a botanist to change the name and then spread the story of how the indians used the drink to make themselves vomit in some ceremony. While I don't recall the specific name at the moment, if you look at the first records of Yaupon in the science journals, it wasn't always called I.vomitoria. That only happened after the British Tea empire worked their magic. And who was to argue when everyone knew you could "Trust the Science", right?!?!
At the time, drinking Yaupon tea was extremely common and everyone knew it was a good tea. The black tea from India and elsewhere in the orient, was just as good, but also more expensive as you might imagine. There was a rich/poor divide as there always is. The wealthier someone was, obviously they'd want "fancy" foreign products. However, the real killer of the Yaupon tea industry was just a larger and better connected competitor. It's kind of funny, too, when you think that we're still dealing with that same kind of thing to this very day.
Yes. The ceremonial drink was called " Asi " in the Mvskoke language , and included other ingredients. The yaupon tea was just a daily drink.
@@Wrapscallionn YEP! and the daily drink is called "Cassina"
Very well told, very well seen and thank you for describing all of this! Indeed!
I'm in Alabama, Cherokee Bluffs; there's an abundance of *this* in my area. As a coffee *fiend* , I'm challenged to experiment...
@@iahelcathartesaura3887 I think you'll enjoy it.
I've been curious to experiment with picking leaves at different times of the years, or from different cultivars, to see how that might change the flavor and caffeine content. Maybe growing one in your yard as part of your landscape, where you can water and fertilize it regularly, will turn out a better tea than a plant struggling in the wild?
Great video, Matthew.
A local Native Plant Society member (and certified UF Master Gardener) that leads guided hikes suggested a theory that the name "vomitaria" may have been created because early Europeans saw yaupon as competition for the imported teas. She also mentioned that the natives drank it everyday (without vomiting), as your reference to the 1615 remarks from the St Augustine priest.
May be that it was among the harder or more plentiful of seven herbs reportedly gathered by cherokee to make the 'black drink' that was part of ceremony and did induce vomiting. I wonder if the berries were 'vomitaria''s target?
I've been drinking yaupon holly tea for a few years, but just recently learned the connection between it and the famed Native American Osceola (Asi-Yaholo, or black drink speaker).
I heard that the Black Drink was used during mound building acts.
As it was with the Cherokee and Choctaw as well
Great info, Matthew. I have a tree that I love. But I never knew that I could use the the leaves for tea. I'm a tea drinker and I can't wait to try it. Another reason to use native plants for landscaping...❤❤❤
THANK YOU! One of the only videos on yaupon to assert confidently that it does NOT cause vomiting. It's unbelievable how many people say and believe this. I can tell you've actually drunk it yourself plenty. I drink it almost every day. I have even tried drinking as much as my empty stomach fits of a very strong decoction numerous times, and it has never produced any sensation of nausea or need to vomit. It's an insanely underrated wild tea plant found everywhere in riparian zones in central TX.
Wow what a great testimony! Thanks for that!
Full disclosure... Ilex vomitoria was used in Native American rituals in order to induce visions. It was deliberately over consumed for this purpose. They may have included the poisonous berries. I drink tea made from the tea leaves, in moderation.
You don’t give a shit how the plants got there! You’re just some spoiled person who’s human overpopulation
I’m guessing it may be the berries that cause that, and people confuse the two.
Have you ever tried running it through a coffee-maker? Seems like it'd be an easy way to make a pot of iced Tea and not have to deal with the leaf getting everywhere.
Fascinating video. I grew up in North Louisiana and have seen these plants my whole life. All I ever knew was that the berries were toxic. This whole time I could have been having some fantastic tea. Being a tea nerd, I can't wait to give this a try.
How cool that you've already identified the tree!
Wow, I have that holly all over my property. I have never heard of using it for anything. Thank you for the information. I will be trying the tea.
Thank you for making these videos. Very interesting how many plants are more useful than I imagined.
Ate this during SERE school in Alabama. Pick em off the plant and chew. Only caffeine available in the woods lol.
Ft Rucker
Yaupon is botanically similar to Yerba mate of South America, another Ilex species. Both yaupon and Yerba mate produce caffeinated teas.
Thank you, i was gonna say the same thing
@@briantaulbee6452 I actually think Americans need to be educated about both Camellia sinensis (real tea) and yaupon. Both can be grown outside in most of US. Why are we importing what can be easily grown at home?
@@arlosmith2784they’re cheaper
@@critterjon4061 What's cheaper than making tea from trees in your back yard?
Probably closer to guayusa
I wok roast yaupon, then simmer the crushed leaves in water for 20 minutes to end up with a very dark drink. Sometimes add a little sorghum syrup. It is as satisfying as coffee (and I love my coffee!)
Is the flavor at all similar to coffee?
@@matthewadkins7973 Enough to pretend. Like carob is to chocolate. And for me it has become desirable in its own right as with coffee.
You’re the best!! Your videos are short and to the point but full of information at the same time. This is exactly what I was praying for when we moved on our land 3 years ago. Thank you for freely sharing your wisdom!
Never knew this! Hope you make a video on American beautyberry and lyreleaf sage. And making jam out of native fruit. Wish I knew this channel existed, so many edible plants in the southeast that indigenous Americans used that have all been forgotten about by all but the most hardcore foragists.
I live in MI and find so much of this meant for the SW USA to be pertinent. Thanks so much for valuable information!
Yay for caffeine, thanks Matthew.
Thanks
Great video! Very interesting history about the Yaupon Holly as well. Can't wait until the next video! 😊
I have an OLD yaupon on my property and behind me is a pond we've always called yaupon pond. I had heard you could make a tea but I zero clue about all of these benefits! I have to try it now!
I have a weeping youpon, with berries. Huge tree. Love it
What is weeping yaupon?
@@TexasGranny19614:17 its a varietal of yaupon holly that has arched branches with a taller trunk than the kind typically used for landscaping.
Thanks Matthew, I live in SC so thankful that you showed me the tree I'm going to try this ❤🙏
Clearly the most informative channel on wild plants of medicinal and edibles available. My cornucopia enlarges with every new posting. I can’t thank you enough.
Thank you for watching!!
Awesome thank you so much for sharing, I have alot growing in my front yard. I will definitely be making some tea😊❤
After a few of your videos....im amazed and impressed by the depth of knowledge. Excellent channel
Awesome, thank you for watching!
Really good presentation of a plant that might be in high demand soon.
I do appreciate all the information that you supply during your research.
Very detailed and useful information! Few years ago I was clearing a piece of “jungle” in my backyard and discovered a little Yupon holly seedling. I haven’t harvested it yet but it is big enough to do so. Your preparation video couldn’t come at a better time. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
What a cute tea/coffee cup!
Thank you for the information and video.
Just found your channel. I love this topic, but up to now you were the first guy I discovered that specifically targeted the region of the country where I am from. Looking forward to adding some local finds to my diet. BTW, do you include edible invasive species? Because I think encouraging people to seek out and consume invasive species is a great way to control their spread.
Awesome! Glad you found the channel. Yep I will be including any edible wild plant I can put a camera on!
I used to forage ephedra in SoCal desert. Desert tea, Mormon tea.
Listening to the news this morning and what do I hear?? Artillery Tea Company is now pairing up with a family owned farm in Texas and they are starting to sell YAUPON TEA!!
🙌🏼🙏🏼 watched this last night and found some this morning!!! So excited to try, thank you so much
Thank you for reminding me of this from my childhood.
Your mission and project are invaluable!! Thank you for all you are doing!
@@iahelcathartesaura3887 Thanks for watching, I appreciate the support!
This is such important work you are doing...thank you!
Man I just found this channel during Christmas and I can't get enough of it! ❤❤❤
Me too ☺️👍
I live in Tennessee and was like, bummer, but then I saw a bunch near my house, it was dark but I looked close and I am going back to get some tomorrow, and I saw some goldenrod!
Great job this is the rest of the information I started looking into previously, thanks for completing a thought
another lovely video!!
one thing i could add to the historical context of the indigenous relationship to this holly, is that during these ritual times the beverage (which as you noted was almost definitely vomitoria + another plant) was the ONLY thing that would be consumed, sometimes for as long as 3 days i believe!! and yea as someone who has abused the coffee pot my fair share of times, if thats the only thing going into you, somethings gonna be on the way out 😂
Lol so true. One time I drank 3 big cups of english breakfast tea back to back on an empty stomach and well... it had the "vomitoria" effect for sure
I have that stuff everywhere. I'm going to have to try it out.
Got my suscribtion yo.. Im from the southwest but i still like to learn about all medicinal plants that grow in north america
I am glad to have found this site
thank you. So much energy, methinks you have been drinking that natural caffeine ;) brilliant!
Thank you for your very important message about Yaupon Holly. I would love a download of your Iinformation.
Stick the handle of a wooden spoon in the oven door so the steam from the moisture of the leaves, be freshly washed or dry.
Same with any herbs that you have to dry in the oven.
Thanks for a great informative video!
Been drinking it seems my whole life and I'm 70. My grandmother started me on it. They are a invasive and a nuisance bush. We cut the limbs in small peices that will fit in 5 gallon buckets. As it dries, the leaves just fall off. We actually have 5 buckets just for that. We roast them and use them in tea balls. Darker roast gives a very pleasant taste. Nearly like coffee.
Matthew. I love your content. I have already found plants in my own yard. I have downloaded your book and the course. What a value! If you ever have a walk about I would be interested and will ask friends to join us. Thank you. Also your family is adorable.
I stumbled upon this video today, and was politely surprised to find a very useful source of information about the local fauna. I live in Calhoun County Florida and am looking forward to watching many more of your videos. I have subscribed and liked. I will share this video with my friends. Thank you for putting this type of valuable information out in the ether for us to find and enjoy.
I love those trees! Undoubtedly, I have a male since it doesn’t have a lot of red berries in the winter!
Thank you Matthew, this also grows in my area. Northern California I'll be looking for it on my next foraging adventure.
Oxidizing the leaves (Fermented tea style) would be an interesting processing technique.
In Alaska, my favorite tea substitute is bruised and fermented fireweed leaves.
OK -- you convinced me to switch from yerba mate to yaupon. Also, another tea in the same family is 'guayusa' or dream tea. I have cut back on drinking dream tea because dreaming is so intense while sleeping when drinking that tea. I'm curious how dreaming is while drinking yaupon.
Recently, I found out about this before watching here. It's plentiful on our property. Awesome and medicinal free! Thanks for posting!
I learned so much! Thx!
We are just out of the green area of the map, in that western end of NC where you can go to Georgia without transiting SC. I will definitely be looking for these on our woodlot, which is 2200-2600 in elevation, maybe I will get luck and find a couple!
Thank you sir!!! 🤙
Thank you for this fascinating Video! I’m going to grow some in my greenhouse. ( Kentucky) lol
Yaupon is the 2nd most abundant plant, only 2nd to the loblolly pine trees, in the vast "Big Thicket" forests of east Texas. I doubt, though, whether many Texans know that it has beverage potential. This sounds very much like Mate ("mah-tay") which is a very popular hot beverage in Argentina, and is also a Holly bush.
Wow, I didn't know yerba mate was a holly... makes me think of the actual coffee plant
Most people around here hate youpon holly 😢 I purposely left as many as I could around my property. I drink the tea make crafts like arrows, and friction Fire sets from the wood. And have made it my goal to educate as many people as I can about its benefits.
Where did you find that information, I have been doing herbal medicine for 60 years and have never seen that in any of my books about loblolly pine ... I need to know please.
Thanks for the video , but... The story you gave isn't exactly correct... It wasn't for religious purposes to purge but rather for posturing in front of outsiders to show how big a warrior he was by showing that he could eat more. I really wish that people would quit trying to understand past societies by present social practice!
There were two small companies in Texas that were offering Yaupon Tea. I'm not sure if they're still working, but it was good stuff and nicely packaged. I remember watching a couple videos on them not too long back.
So glad to find this channel!
Subscribed! So happy to have stumbled on this video.
I got this growing wild up in southwest Virginia, on my mnt side. I like watching your videos
The Cherokee (Tsalagi) called it Black Drink (Gvnega Adatatsi).
Yes, the Karankawa of the Texas Gulf Coast did as well.
Matthew is mad genius.
I've never noticed this shrub in the foothills of North Carolina. I'm going to make a point to find it. Thanks!
Very cool. Love your channel!
I’m going to have to give this a try!
I hunt, and I've seen this plant all over the place. I'll have to give it a try. Thanks!
I have been trying to find this plant for MONTHS to grow. Fredericksburg VA. Can't find it. Im new to the East and your vids are excellent for this Western herbalist. I tell everyone about you
Thank you so much!
A lot of nurseries don't carry it because it's not a "boxwood" being mass-produced in one of the few giant grow-ops that supply the nursery trade. You can mail-order them, or ask a small nursery to special-order one for you.
It growns in northeast tennessee to.I have some of these on my farm.Thanks for the video.
There are several companies out there that sell yaupon tea. My favorite is Cat Springs Yaupon here in Texas. Just ordered some myself recently!
Hey Mathew, I enjoyed your video, I have Yaupon holly growing in a planter in my back yard, I Iive in California but am a Tribal member of Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma,and so it's a traditional drink for us , I purchased the plants online from Florida year ago they were just about six inches tall or so think the plants are just about big enough to start harvesting from but haven't really known quite how to go about it but your video has given me an idea or two so going to try it out with some of your suggestions
We bought a "weeping yaupon holly" (in other words a yaupon holly) from a nursery. We live in central Virginia, just at the point where it can live with the cold - it's several years old, and is growing at a decent rate. This one has berries, thus as female. Actually bought it for the caffeine, in the event of some social disruption, where caffeine might be hard to come by. Starting a few cuttings, too.
Lovely plant! Well worth the price! I've only made tea once (more of a harvest when it gets a lot bigger.)
Thanks, I think I just found my windbreak plant for the fence line! I want survival type plants for city living that will be useful in emergencies. I wonder how well it will grow in Zone 6.
Available at the Ogmulgee Mounds gift shop in Macon, GA
I love this tea! Thanks for doing a vid on it.
Nice guy, informative & straight to the point. Thank you for sharing your knowledge
Excellent video. Here in east Texas we are inundated with American Yaupon. My property is covered. I certainly will be trying this. So many videos of the northern plants that you cannot find here in East Texas. Yours are very refreshing.
My grandmother use to use Peach tree leaves the same way. It was good.
WOW! As a caffeine substitute?
@@JanineMJoi yes
Yes they are wonderful. I always make the tea at thanksgiving while the leaves are still green.
So glad to hear you’re from N La. I am from the Ruston area.
Spent 30 yrs in Shreveport before moving to East Texas.
@@moragmacgregor6792We lived is S’port for 20 yrs! Our children grew up there. Went to University Elementary, Youree Drive Middle and Captain Shreveport High.
@@rosemaryparnell377 You make me feel so nostalgic! We were Arthur Circle and later Byrd. Cheers!
We live close to Downsville.
Absolutely love this stuff. I should watch more of this. But chem trails and turbo cancers have been taking priority. That and try to keep a garden alive . Gardening today is quite the challenge. ❤ Thank you for your work brother, it is excellent Intel.
Yes gardening today is extremely challenging. Dry conditions and PLENTY of bugs.
I am of Muskogee Creek and Cherokee ancestry and grew up among those amazing and wonderful people.
I learned about the use of Yaupon from my grandmother, a medicine woman, and from other older female family members I watched preparing it.
Everyone uses Yaupon leaves to make a soothing tea, but there is another use for Yaupon. It is used to prepare "The Black Drink," a wicked smelling brew of green leaves, prepared only by older women who have ritually prepared themselves for the task.
They chew the fresh leaves and spit out the masticated mass and their own saliva into earthen pots. These pots are stored or sometimes buried in the ground until the contents have fermented.
The resulting "Black Drink" is only mildly hallucinogenic and its use is strictly forbidden to women. I suppose they get a little buzz from the preparation, though. Women don't want to drink it, really, as they say it makes men act silly.
There is another variety of "The Black Drink" which is far more potent and dangerous. It can produce violent nausea, vomiting and even strong hallucinations. I am not sure of its exact content, as it was not revealed to me. I believe I know what it is, though. As a girl, I saw Yaupon berries being gathered and dried on strings, well out of the reach of us children. I believe these dried berries may have been ground and added to the original drink's recipe to make the purifying form of the drink.
I have long suspected there is a very good reason only older women are allowed to make this drink and that women are not allowed to use it at all.
I believe it may well be that "The Black Drink" is harmful to an unborn or nursing child. The berry recipe would almost certainly be fatal to an unborn or nursing infant.
Hope this helps to round out your information!
Wow that's a very detailed description on the history of this plant, thank you for sharing!
Fascinating, tyvm!
That was absolutely amazing and awesome to read. I sincerely hope there are people recording and studying these ancient ways. I am quite certain that even with all the modern medicine in the world we could all learn things from an old medicine woman’s knowledge.
I've seen the black drink made by roasting Holly leaves and once they're black and dry they then steep them to make it.
Thank you for the detailed information!
Thanks again for sharing .
I have been researching this plant for a few months and can't find it anywhere now I know why I live in Central Missouri but it doesn't grow here. I'm definitely going to give this a try thank you for the great videos
Thank you for watching!