The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1952-01-18
IT Takes
ALL KINDS
YaupOn-Or Is It?
BY DAVE WEST

tea ever since we hit the county.
When we moved to Hatteras Is
land We innocently assumed we
were going where everyone knew
all about it and where we could
easily crafty our yen. But, so far,
no luck. In fact, we haven't found
many people who say they know
very much about the drinking
qualities of the plant-and, of
course, in matter like this, the
younger generation is of no use:
We were talking it over with
Albin Fulcher and Charley Gray
the other day; from the descrip-
ton Albin gave of the correct man.
ner to prepare the tea, it's no
wonder not many people prepare
the homegrown beverage any
more.
The formula, as it was described
to US, goes about like this. Cut
leaves and stems in large quaint
ties, including not too many of
the bright red berries. The large
quantities are to make your tea
producing efforts worth while; for
no one, however much he likes
his cup of steaming yaupon, will
want to go through the prepare
tory labors very frequently. Put
all the foraged plant parts in a
trough and chop them up small
with an AXE, so help us. You
will have collected a lot of flat
rocks and dug a deep hole in the
sand beforehand. Heat the rocks,
strew yaupon over layer of them
at the bottom of the hole; cover
with a layer of sand; then add
other layers of rocks, yaupon and
sand, until your yaupon, rocks or
hole gives out. There is not much
likelyhood of running out of sand,
luckily. Leave that which consti-
tutes your dream of a cup of tea
in the ground for three days; un-
earth it (unsand it); then treasure
it as you would as much gold
(for if the word gets around to
US that that you've got ''the MAX
ms" for yaupon tea, we'll come
a-knocking at your door with the
most pitiful tale you ever heard
about how much good We could
get out of a "cup of something
hot and fragrant.")
The last stages of preparation
are exactly the same as those for
making ordinary China tea, they
tell US.
Not that there's any real
agreement about processing. Char
lie Gregory says that a lady in
Rodanthe prepares it in her oven
from the yaupon leaves alone.
If she is actually making the tea
nowadays, she's the only one who
is doing so lat least as far as a
newcomers researches can discov-
er.)
Anyhow, when we get through
our match with the particular
forest of thorns and greenbriars
we have challenged. we're going
to have try at producing the
tea ourself. Unless somebody pro-
vides US with new information in
the meantime, we'll try the leaf
baking method first. Should our
product turn out to be stomach
able, we may give up the business
if school teaching altogether and
turn our new skill into a liveli-
hood. The testimonials we've heard
from Messrs. Albin and Charley
to the goodness of the tea make
us confident we can keep them
working like slaves to purchase
regular supplies of the real stuff
at the outrageous prices we shall
certainly charge.
Our curiosity has been SO long
piqued by the yaupon drink that
we've fallen to asking "What does
it taste like?" of all and sundry.
Most everyone says it is very good,
but they all declare it can be COM
pared to nothing else for flavor.
When we ask if it's anything like
regular tea or sassafras, we are
told that it isn't. Charley gave
us the only description of the
taste we've had yet-second-hand
description at that--and we hav-
emit Imagination enough to make
any use of it. A man he once knew,
he said, used to declare, "Yaupon
tea tastes like green paint smells. =
When we objected that THAT did
mt sound like anything we'd like
to drink, Charley assured us again
that it is delightful tea indeed
(These fellows tantalize us 50