Coca Tea - Herbi Mate de Coca

• Chakana - The Inca Cross

Mate de Coca, also known as Coca tea or Koka tea, is a herbal tea made from the leaves of the coca plant (Erythroxylum). Yes, I know what you are thinking - this is the same plant that the cocaine alkaloid is derived from; though the amount of actual cocaine in the coca leaves is so tiny (about .15%) that it would take about 500 grams of coca leaves to produce a single gram of cocaine. Coca tea has its orgins in the Andes mountain range, particularly in Bolivia and Peru.

Coca Tea is typically prepared by either dipping a tea bag of crushed leaves in hot water or by submerging whole leaves into water. The latter technique is commonly used when making large amounts of it. You can also use coca 'flour' which is a ground-up powdery form of the tea that you stir into hot water.

Because of the trace stimulant alkaloids in coca tea, it produces similar 'energizing' effects as coffee. And just like coffee can be decafinated, coca tea can be de-cocaine-ized (reducing the trace amounts to levels where commercial forms of the tea can be sold legally in the USA.)

Coca tea is touted for its ability to increase oxygen absorption in the blood and for this reason is a very popular beverage with climbers and hikers of high altitude mountain ranges. Coca tea is also very popular because it energizes and provides a feeling of alertness. Here is a list of other reasons people enjoy coca tea:

* Good for digestive system, IBS and liver functions

* Regulates cardiovascular problems

* Regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates

* Energizes - good for diets

* Helps with regularity, and reduces bloating

* Eases symptoms of PMS, cramps and menopause

* Eases stress

* Lowers Blood Pressure

* Helps prevent altitude sickness and vertigo

* Treats depression

* Reduces irritation of vocal cords

There are many commercially produced coca tea products, typically offered in the customary tea filtering bags; each bag usually has approximately one gram of the coca leaf. Popular brands are Herbi, Delisse and Windsor. A typical tea bag contains:

0g fat

18mg Calcium

6.4mg Phosphorus

2.1 mg Potassium

0g calories

caffeine free

contains natural alkaloids

Unlike Yerba Mate, which is traditionally ingested through a straw, Mate de coca is drank like tea (from a cup, without a straw, which is used to drink yerba mate). Many indigenous tribes from the Andes use the coca tea for religious and medicinal purposes. Like chicha, coca tea was a popular part of the ancient Inca culture and today is common to many South American countries.

Coca tea is a very popular tourist product sold along the "Inca Trail" on the way to Machu Picchu, and can be found in grocery stores all over Peru and Bolivia.

Coca Leaves were and still are a sacred element of the Andean culture. The leaves were used by the Incas in religious ceremonies spanning from burials to prayer rituals and offerings to the various gods. Only over the past century or two, has the coca leaf been 'abused' in a new chemical form known as cocaine. This has had a negative impacted on its reputation as a cultural and medicinal plant used for thousands of years, and has detracted from its central and important role in everyday Andean culture.