Camellia sinensis

East Asian evergreen shrub whose leaves, processed in dozens of distinct ways, yield green, white, oolong, black, and pu-erh teas — the second most consumed beverage on Earth and the second great gift of caffeine to human culture.

Cool subtropical highland shrub of monsoon Asia, cultivated worldwide.

The names this organism has been given by the cultures that have lived alongside it. Each carries an entire relationship — what is sacred is never simply translated.

• Chá (茶)
  Mandarin
• O-cha (お茶)
  Japanese
• Chai
  Hindi / Persian

• Central to Chinese, Japanese, and other East Asian ceremonial and contemplative traditions
• Foundational beverage of the British Empire's economic system

Tea's unique combination of caffeine and L-theanine produces a famously different kind of alertness from coffee — softer, more sustained, less anxious. The Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu) makes this pharmacology into an entire aesthetic discipline.