A question in Reddit inspired me to write out a detailed answer about this, what people mean by "tea drunk?" The actual question, now deleted, related to asking if cold tea can make you tea drunk, but prior to that it's necessary to consider what it even means. My answer was this:
"Tea drunk" is really used in two completely different ways by tea enthusiasts. One meaning relates to drinking a lot of tea, essentially related to experiencing strong effects from caffeine. There is definitely theanine in tea too, and other compounds that can affect your body and mental state, so it's not just caffeine, but it's mostly that. This kind of feeling is familiar to anyone who has drank a few cups of coffee in a short time, but it's not identical, because those other compounds really do alter the experience.
The next use and meaning relates to other compounds in tea combining with the caffeine and theanine effects to result in an atypical body feeling or mental state. In some description it's called cha qi, or what I take to mean the energy and feeling from tea, although that phrasing and implied meaning can lean towards mystical range a little. Per my experience this is a real thing. I don't tend to ever notice it unless I'm drinking sheng pu'er, and even then not so often. It's said that old tree and natural grown versions, or aged versions, can have a stronger effect, and there might be something to connecting those three inputs. It doesn't need to be regarded as a mystical theme, because it's well known that caffeine and theanine aren't the only two active compounds in tea, the only two that can potentially affect mental states.
You don't notice this much at all if you've eaten with or just before drinking the tea. My take on this, which isn't necessarily accepted conventional understanding, is that food slows the digestion of related compounds so that you are still absorbing and experiencing those inputs, but much slower, and it's the sudden change from one mental state to another that makes it so noticeable. At times it can feel like being stoned (a bit like on weed, just different), or very relaxed, or even hyper in unusual ways, all of which are also familiar ground for marijuana experience. I've drank tea that made me feel sleepy before, and have taken a nap after drinking a good bit of some.
So far nothing I've said is clearly supported beyond it being one more hearsay account, so let's consider what else is in tea that might account for this:
Tea Epicure article on tea chemistry
Tea leaves contain many amino acids, the most abundant of which is theanine. Theanine, specifically L-Theanine, is responsible for promoting alpha brain wave activity and a feeling of relaxation. L-Theanine in concert with caffeine can induce a state of “mindful alertness” in the tea drinker. Amino acids make up an average of 6% of the extract solids in steeped tea1...
The main methylxanthine in tea is the stimulant caffeine. Other methylxanthines found in tea are two chemically similar compounds, theobromine and theophylline. The tea plant creates these chemicals as a way to ward off insects and other animals. On average, methylxanthines make up 2% to 5% of the dry weight of the fresh tea leaves5. Methylxanthines also contribute to a bitter taste in the tea infusion. The level of methylxanthines in tea depends on the variety and cultivar of Camellia sinensis used, the climate, the age of the leaves, and the propagation method (seed vs. cutting) used on the plant...
Theobromine is also found in chocolate, and acts as a stimulant with similar effects as caffeine, seemingly just less intense (more on that here: https://neuropedia.com/theobromine-benefits-side-effects/). So there doesn't need to be any mystical explanation for why different types of tea have different effects on energy level and mood, even though we can't really completely unpack the total effect of all active compounds in tea, or map likely levels to tea types, since processing changes a lot beyond what that Tea Epicure article already cited.
Additional clarifications:
There's always more to add, so I'll extend those points just a little before closing.
I didn't clarify that I always eat food before drinking tea, in part to offset the "tea drunk" experience, but really more to protect my stomach from either immediate or longer term negative impact. I don't necessarily want to feel any sort of buzz or stony sensation from drinking tea, or to emphasize relaxed body-feel, and I couldn't be sure what the long-term effect on my stomach of drinking 8 to 10 grams worth of tea in daily sittings might be, so it works as a hedge of that risk to eat food first. To me it seems to work best to eat something with both carbohydrates and fat in it, so fruit with toast and butter is fine, or breakfast cereal, or the heavier eggs, bacon, and rice breakfast (or the American version, with potatoes instead).
A separate line of thought, probably more common in sheng pu'er appreciation circles, is that "drinking tea with your body" is a higher form of experience, something people only come to value after long exposure and refined preference. What to say about that? I'm probably biased against wanting tea to affect me in related ways because I have some history with drug and alcohol use, not so much addiction and alcoholism, but enough that I don't want to revisit that path.
The sheng pu'er versions that affected me the most did match up with the hearsay input about what are said to, older tree plant material, natural grown versions, and those from regions that tend to be associated with that, like Lao Ban Zhang. I've drank (and own) a significant amount of sheng aged from the early 2000s but I've not experienced much of the more prized 30 year old range, or well-regarded versions that stand out as most desirable related to tea enthusiast group hearsay. It would be easier to isolate that kind of feel input if I was emphasizing it, not intentionally offsetting it related to eating food prior to drinking tea.
I don't tend to overdo it with tea quantity and caffeine input either. I've accidentally gone there in the past, of course, during tasting sessions with others, or while writing comparison reviews of multiple teas. It's not aversion to that effect that I avoid as much as making it a habit to moderate caffeine intake to prevent long term exposure problems. I know of four people who have developed long term sensitivity to caffeine from drinking too much tea, three of them tea bloggers. Two never did return to more moderate consumption, while after a substantial break two did.
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comparison tastings are likely to overdo it for caffeine intake |
Caffeine can become a headache trigger, or can cause problems with maintaining balanced energy levels, beyond potential sleep disruption, or even more problematic disruption of normal sleep period rest cycles. It's simple to avoid this potential risk, by staying at or below the standard daily recommended intake level for caffeine, 400 mg per day. Using the standard amount of 30 to 50 mg of caffeine per cup it's no risk to drink eight 250 ml cups of tea a day, around two quarts or liters, and that's enough tea anyway. It's possible to break that down to a finer level to dry leaf amounts, or to factor in body size and natural tolerance, raising or lowering that practical limit, but it's easy enough to limit yourself to that general range.
I think appreciating the first effect is fine, drinking types of sheng pu'er that lend themselves to that, and it would work to judge stomach impact risk by feel, if it causes discomfort (even though I don't; I stop short of needing to gauge that by preventing it). For the second case getting relatively blasted on caffeine once or twice a week might still be fine, again even though I don't, but going further and further with exposure and daily intake habit seems like more of a concern.
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