AK wrote:
>
> In article >, metaperson wrote:
> > Hi, everyone!
> > Does anyone know exactly what effect tea has on brain?
> > I'm asking because I heard that tea is an addictive drug.
> > Of course, its effects may be weak, but sometimes after drinking quite a lot
> > of tea I experience something strange... Euphoria, maybe... Or something
> > like mystical experiences.
> > Is it abnormal?
>
> Typical for drugs. Hence their popularity.
>
> I get the opposite effect, though - I feel markedly "off" if I drink
> even one cup of medium-strength tea on empty stomack. It's similar to
> eating too much salty food (for me). Or too much refined sugar food.
>
> I only drink tea after a meal.

Finer green teas like gyokuro are far to precious to spoil by drinking
them after my tastes have been dulled by a meal, I feel. I always drink
them alone, on an empty stomach, and think they taste best this way. If
I am also a little weary, say after a days work, then the tea can
produce that narcotic euphoria that AK speaks of. This isn't the
effects of caffeine, because lesser teas with similar caffeine content
fail to work such magic.

--crymad