I harvested some E. sinica from Arches National park (I know I’m bad) one year ago. You don’t normally need to let the tea dry that long (in fact the fresh tips taste just fine) but I wanted to see if there was a difference. In fact it still had it’s same potency.
I ground up the tips in a coffee grinder and put in about a golf-balls size worth of it into a ceramic straining cup. After steeping I enjoyed my tea while reading stuff online.
In about 5 minutes I felt an intense rush (this isn’t going to sound like an erowid post, promise) of mind-numbing energy. Not the kind of energy where you want to do things but rather when you want to just relax and try and focus. In about 30 minutes my little high was over and I started being able to focus on the current article on my screen.
Oh, and the tea tasted pretty good.
Mormon Tea
Herbal Tea by Custom
Mormon tea is made from the crushed tips of E. sinica. It has an orange color with a ginger-like earthy smell. Served hot it can replace caffeinated teas with it’s trace amounts of ephedrine. The tea has a taste similar to anise or gingerbread.
Currently, no company (at least in the USA) manufactures Mormon tea because it contains 3% ephedrine. Other countries might package it.
