Lost Pines Yaupon Tea

Lost Pines Yaupon Tea Yaupon is the US's only native caffeinated plant. Ethically foraged just outside of Austin Texas. Our Yaupon comes from the Lost Pines Forest in Bastrop, Texas.

Yaupon (YO-pawn) is North America's only native caffeinated tea and has been enjoyed for thousands of years. Like its cousin plants, yerba mate and guayusa, yaupon is packed with antioxidants and theobromine (from Greek "Food of the Gods"), the mood elevator familiar to lovers of bittersweet dark chocolate. We harvest the yaupon ourselves to ensure the
highest quality and ethical practices. Thinni

ng yaupon helps the pine trees grow back and restores habitat for the endangered Houston toad after the historic fire of 2011.

Got the goods...
05/17/2026

Got the goods...

05/11/2026

Out here in Bastrop humans have completely interrupted the natural fire cycles. This causes brush like yaupon to form dense thickets of "ladder fuel". Then when it all catches fire because someone didn't trim the power lines like they were contracted to.. .then it's yaupon's fault ;)

Today's foraging spot. Mostly oaks and cedar with a yaupon and beautyberry understory. It's going to look even more magi...
04/30/2026

Today's foraging spot. Mostly oaks and cedar with a yaupon and beautyberry understory. It's going to look even more magical when the beautyberry pops off!

Itsy bitsy yaupon flowers. It's spring!
04/28/2026

Itsy bitsy yaupon flowers. It's spring!

Horsemint season in Central Texas is hitting right now 🌿This is my go-to “Italian seasoning” out in the wild—strong, aro...
04/12/2026

Horsemint season in Central Texas is hitting right now 🌿

This is my go-to “Italian seasoning” out in the wild—strong, aromatic, and loaded with thymol. Same compound that gives thyme and oregano that punch, but this grows right here, no garden required.

I’ll usually dry it, but fresh leaves hit hard too. Great for seasoning meats, beans, or just experimenting if you’re into wild flavors.

If you’re foraging—make sure you’ve got a clean ID and harvest lightly. This stuff supports a lot of pollinators, so don’t wipe out a patch. I usually pinch the plants back couple nodes. This lets them live and usually makes them bushier w more flowers

Anyone else using horsemint in the kitchen?

Some fun stuff we saw while foraging last week... Pretty sure the first is a wasp gall. A wasp injects an egg into the t...
03/21/2026

Some fun stuff we saw while foraging last week... Pretty sure the first is a wasp gall. A wasp injects an egg into the tree. It then hijacks the nearby plant tissue to create a gall that protects the developing wasp larva till they hatch (out of those little holes!)

Then a burnt out tree stump from the 2011 Bastrop Complex Fire.

Baby pine cones!

And finally some Dahoon Holly... A relative of yaupon and it's closest native lookalike. People sometimes call it Diceduous Yaupon because, unlike yaupon, it loses its leaves in the winter.

03/20/2026
03/07/2026

Festival Beach Food Forest in East Austin Tx. Everything's leafing out already for the spring. It's beautiful and smells amazing here. What a treasure. Easily one of the coolest parks I've ever been to. Oh! And the food is free for the taking. See figs, eat em! There's asparagus coming up right now too! Ugh .. I could go on forever but I need to make my way to the Bell market in Cedar Park right now. We're here rain or shine!

First! 🥇
03/05/2026

First! 🥇

Address

4209 Airport Boulevard
Austin, TX
78702

Telephone

+15127484546

Website

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