Bupp sells herbal enchantments
Gift of dragon tattoo inspires new identity, business.
by Katy Niner, January 2008

Once upon a time in a land far away (western Pennsylvania), a toddler padded around with cupped hands calling "Tea! Tea!"

Befitting a fairy tale, this tea toddler would become a tea lady with the help of a dragon (tattoo) and some potions. The requisite wizard is dL Bupp.

Her motto: "Drink tea, find balance, live from the heart."

As the founder of Dragon Lady Teas, Bupp works magic with herbs.

"I've always been able to take a bunch of jars, shake things into a pot and make tea for people," she said.

As a bridge between the plant and people worlds, she harmonizes seemingly contentious concoctions like her latest, Raven Tea. Technically a tisane because it doesn't contain leaves from the tea bush, its five ingredients - rosemary, eucalyptus, sage, lemongrass, damiana - all boast bold flavors. Through patient experimentation she found a way for the herbs to "hold hands" and help clear internal logjams.

"The voice of intuition sounds like it is a million miles away," she said. "For people to hear that they need to clear out a lot of clutter in their brain - that's the point of this."

Her teas have personalities.

"Some don't like metal," she said, others prefer glass containers. "They speak to me in a way I can hear," she said of the herbs' flavors. "I can tell when they are happy."

Bupp has been eavesdropping on nature's secrets since her youth. On excursions with her outdoorsman father, she would trail behind, fascinated by plants and creatures.

"The people world never responded to me as a kid, but the animal world did," she said.

She dreamed of being a veterinarian.

She didn't find her human "tribe" until enrolling at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she met her prince charming, Jeff, and majored in nutrition. The summer before her senior year, she found her Arcadia here. Working at Jackson Lake Lodge, she reveled in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. She returned to Pennsylvania only to pack up before her final semester. Instead of a white stallion, she and Jeff boarded a Greyhound bus and rolled into Jackson in 1994.

They started a family. As a full-time mom, she immersed herself in the lives of her two sons.

"When you completely give to another person like that, you kind of lose yourself," she said, "but in the process of all that, you find yourself."

She became the Dragon Lady three summers ago when a tattoo artist friend from high school came to visit. Fascinated by medieval lore, Bupp asked him to design a large dragon for her left shoulder. His purple and teal creature cups a glowing orb - perhaps a cup of tea - with a wingspan across her shoulder blade, joint and onto her clavicle. From a room off the kitchen overlooking her garden, it took five hours to immerge. A month later, her friend died.

"He gave me this new identity," she said.

That same summer, a friend encouraged her to package the herbal blends she make for friends. Writing each label by hand, she debuted at the Saturday farmers market under the name inspired by her body art. She sold out that first weekend.

In memory of the tattoo artist and his gift to her, Bupp pasted his photo on the doorway into the commercial kitchen where she now mixes her blends under her fiery nickname.

She began with five recipes: Morning Dew, Be Well, Lady's Blend, Chill Me Out and the perennial favorite, Happy Tea - adding Chai, Belly Rub, Peace and Raven teas in subsequent seasons. Her teas can be found at The Herb Store and on the menu of Planet Palate and Pearl Street Bagels (the latter also sells loose teas.)

Constantly sampling, she spends summers gardening professionally and hiking. Self-taught, she considers the plants her best teachers.

Year round, she makes custom blends for about 30 clients. After a consultation session, she then blends ingredients according to their interior landscape. A Virgo, she often takes into account their astrological sign. She finds Jackson's harsh, "gurly" environment makes people confront their own volatility.

"It makes people feel so good to have something crafted for them," she said. "Everything is so subtle. You pick away at things."

When they call for refills, she checks in on them and adjusts their recipes accordingly.

Currently most of her herbs come from Oregon, but she is surveying native plants to use in her custom blends.

"People are going to resonate more with things from their area," she said.

Her latest fascination: flower essences, made when blooms steep in water, an infusion process nudged by sun or moonlight.

"Flowers have blueprints designed to balance an ailment we have," she said, and they are constantly adapting to environmental changes. "They are so willing to help. For as gentle as they are, they are very energetic."

She hopes to make her own flower essences soon.

While botanicals rest in the winter, she busily experiments.

Typically anti-clutter (although she does love purses and spunky socks), she finds herself collecting inspiration for her business: tea cups, pots and kettles culled from antique and thrift stores to use for tea parties (she's involved in a lot of ladies groups, like a Full Moon drum circle, to balance her male trifecta at home).

She hopes her teas will bring people closer to nature.

"[When] they are walking outside in the woods and think, 'Oh, that's in one of those teas I drink,"' she said, "maybe they will have more of a connection and respect for the environment they live in."