Tea
Plant Medicine, Excitantia, Caffeine plant
Tea
Camellia sinensis (formerly Thea sinensis)
Tea is Camellia sinensis (Theaceae). Native to the borderlands of southwest China / northeast India / northern Burma. Discovered per legend by Shen-Nung in 2737 BCE, or as a gift of Bodhidharma's severed eyelids at Shao-Lin temple. Carried from China to Japan by Buddhist monks; reached Europe via Portuguese 1546, Lisbon 1580. Drove the Opium Wars when British East India Co. sought a non-silver way to pay for it.
Coffee, Chocolate, Caffeine
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See also
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Summary
Classes
Plant Medicine, Excitantia, Caffeine plant
Common uses
Alertness0, Cognitive clarity0
Pharmacy
Starting dose
One cup (~40–60 mg caffeine; about half of brewed coffee)
Preparations
Dried leaves, infused. Six major processings: white, green, yellow, oolong, black, pu-erh
Pharmacology
Routes
Oral
Onset
15–30 min
Duration
3–4 h
Half-life
~5 h (caffeine)
Purported mechanism
Caffeine + theophylline + L-theanine. L-theanine (an amino acid unique to tea) modulates glutamate and produces an 'alpha-wave' calming overlay on caffeine's stimulation, hence tea's reputation as a 'cleaner' stimulant than coffee.
“Pendell's corner
The first bowl cleanly moistens my lips and throat;
The second banishes my loneliness;
The third chases through all dullness
To clarify every word I've ever read.
The fourth brings on a light sweat
That cleanses away life's troubles.
The fifth purifies my soul.
The sixth beckons me to the Immortals.
The seventh is my limit,
A light breeze breaks from my sleeves.
— Lu T'ung, "Song of Tea" (quoted in Pendell)
The second banishes my loneliness;
The third chases through all dullness
To clarify every word I've ever read.
The fourth brings on a light sweat
That cleanses away life's troubles.
The fifth purifies my soul.
The sixth beckons me to the Immortals.
The seventh is my limit,
A light breeze breaks from my sleeves.
— Lu T'ung, "Song of Tea" (quoted in Pendell)
— Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Dynamis, p. 53