Sedative Effects of Tea

Yep,

Coffee makes me usually feel wide awake. Tea makes me feel calm, relaxed and awake.

Yes, same here. I once had a little bit too much of Gunpowder tea, enough to sedate me sufficiently to not noticing that my car caught fire. Never drank that tea again. JB

I would not call it sedative, I would call it alert introvertion. Very alert, actually. Meaning that you are driven to a state when your self-awareness and world-awareness are no longer (or less) affected by the fidgeting around you. That is how I explain why the name of Guan Yin is used in connection of tea. Making me "listening to the sounds" is very much how tea affects me.

Sasha.

Alex ChaihorskyXQaed.33576$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com10/22/04

Qi

Rather Gong :)

Sasha.

Hey Alex,

your association of Guan Yin with your state of inner alertness is intersting, even though that wasn't the way the tea got its name...

someone told me once that when one drinks tea, the state of introvertion will connect one to the pulse of gaia, making one's mind in tune with the greater pulse of the universe, hence that sense of great calm and that detached awareness of the world.

Samar

Samar

We know the popular Guan Yin tea story, but we do not "know" the story :) I am very careful with anything "Pantheonic" like "pulses of gods", etc. I just say what I feel. I try to avoid unneccesary references to anything religious or "spiritual". Just my own experience in my own words. And since I have not felt any "pulses" and was never introduced to any "Gaias", I said it the way I did. But different people have different ways of describing their experiences, and the one you mentioned is one of them. I guess I am just uncomfortable with all th e"New Age" terminology. But I enjoy your posts very, very much.

Sasha.

I'm not sure what grade or cultivar of Dragon Well you drank, but taking the Longjing 43 cultivar as an example, a spring pick of that cultivar for processing into Dragon Well will yield the following main biochemicals:

Amino Acid: 3.7% Polyphenols: 18.5% Catechins: 12.1% Caffeine: 4.0% Ratio of polyphenols and amino acids: 4.98

All the above would contribute to the clam state of mind, especially from the amino acids, which contain a chemical y-aminobutyric acid (GABARON), which calms the mind by slowing or inhibiting the movement of brain neurons. Between caffeine and y-aminobutyric acid, a balance is struck and it leaves you languid but aware of your surrounding.

It sounds simplistic, I'm sure there's more involved, but at least you get the gist of it.

Samar

Neither am I comfortable with this 'gaia' school of metaphysics, the chinese house of Qi and traditional medicine is baffling enough for me as it is. I prefer to call it my state of tea intoxication, and it's always a good excuse to take a short snooze...hmm...I wonder if those Ketamine takers were ever introduced to several rounds of tea drinking...never tried those stuff myself, but I wonder if the effects of tea may be similar, healthier, and safer...

Samar

I am not sure I understand what you mean.

Sasha.

:") That's a chinese joke, the movements of taichi qigong is very much someone trying to split a huge water melon into halves and then distributing it left and right...

Alex ChaihorskyzEsed.17505$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com10/23/04

Sasha,

That's a good thing.

Michael

Thank you for your informative reply. I am wondering where you found, or one can find, this type of information? I suppose a Google search would be a good start.

:")

They provide some interesting details about the effects of these chemicals on the body, for the exact compounds in the tea such as the Lonjing 43, I refer to Zhongguo Mingcha Tupu - Lü Cha Pian (An illustrated guide to Famous China Teas - Green Teas volume), edited by Shi Hai Gen. They seem to have produced only one volume on green tea and the project was stalled. It'll be great for us all if they had contiune and give us more on the other teas.

Samar

Samar,

Could you say more about the various Long Jins? I'm curious about the "43" part. Are there many different varietals, or sub-varietals? Are they relatively new? Is there an old "traditional" varietal, which is considered classical, and from which the others derive? How can I know which of the sub-varietals I'm drinking? And so on.

Thanks.

Michael

samarkand417db7e6$ snipped-for-privacy@news.starhub.net.sg10/25/04 22: snipped-for-privacy@uk2.net

Certainly, Michael.

There are several cultivars that can be made into Longjing, the most widely used are:

1. C. sinensis cv. Longjing 43
2. C. sinensis cv. Longjing-changye
3. C. sinensis cv. Longjingzhong
4. C. sinensis cv. Pinyang-tezaocha
5. C. sinensis cv. Xiapu-yuanxiaolü

The 1st 4 are from the Zhejiang province, but the 5th was from Fujian province, and cultivated in northern Zhejiang. I understand that there are cultivars in Yunnan being tested as Longjing - I guess this is the ripple effects of market demands for the renown teas in China that the farmers also want to jump on the wagon for a piece of the pie, so they put their teas to the test and see if it fool buyers and secure a niche for themselves. The sad low down on this is that the consumer will be confused for the varying flavours and qualities of a tea...

The only way to determine which varietals you are drinking, is to look for the physical evidences...

Lonjing 43 - leaf: oval shape, colour: deep green, blade: waxy, smooth & flat, leaf margin: slightly wavy with dense but shallow serration, leaf apex: tapers gradually,

Lonjing-changye - leaf: long oval shape, colour: bright green, blade: smooth & slightly undulated, leaf margin: wavy with fine dense serration, leaf apex: tapers gradually.

Longjingzhong - this is a collective varietal - leaf: long oval, oval and few round shapes, colour: usually bright green, blade: smooth & slight undulated, leaf margin: slightly wavy with dense fine serration, leaf apex: gradual tapers, rounded apex.

Xiapu-yuanxiaolü - leaf: long oval,, colour: bright green, blade: waxy, surface slightly raised, leaf margin: slightly wavy with blunt & shallow serration, leaf apex: gradual tapers.

Besides the Longjingzhong varietals, the other 4 varietals were found pretty recently, in the last 50 years or less.

Hope this answers your queries?

Samar

snipped-for-privacy@news.starhub.net.sg10/26/04 13: snipped-for-privacy@uk2.net [answering a question about Long Jing sub-varietals]

Samar and Other Knowledgable Persons of Good Family,

Could you help me understand something of the history of these? For example, which is the historic parent, or parents, and which is considered the most classic? What tastes and styles are associated with each? (Don't mean to be a pain in the butt, but I'm interested.)

Michael

Great info, Samar, thanks a million.

Sasha.