Coffee

Plant Medicine, Excitantia, Caffeine plant, Xanthine

Coffee

Coffea arabica, Coffea canephora (robusta)

Coffee is the seed of the Coffea genus (Rubiaceae, the same family as Cinchona/quinine and DMT-bearing Psychotria viridis). C. arabica (0.6–1.6% caffeine) is a tetraploid cultigen originating in the Ethiopian highlands; C. canephora (robusta, 1.2–3.2% caffeine) has more caffeine and less flavor. First popularized in Yemen by Sufi monks for sustaining night-long prayer.

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See also

Tea, Chocolate, Caffeine

References

Pharmacy

Starting dose

One cup (~80–145 mg caffeine for brewed; 60–100 mg for instant)

Preparations

Roasted beans, ground; brewed (drip, French press, espresso, cold brew, percolated)

Common uses

Classification(s)

Classes

Plant Medicine, Excitantia, Caffeine plant, Xanthine

Pharmacology

Routes

Oral

Onset

~15–30 min

Duration

3–5 h (subjective)

Half-life

~5 h (caffeine)

Bioavailability

~99% (caffeine)

Pregnancy

Limit to <200 mg/d (~2 cups brewed)

Legal status

Unrestricted (food)

Purported mechanism

Caffeine is a non-selective adenosine A1/A2A receptor antagonist; also weak PDE inhibition. Beans contain theobromine (3,7-DMX) and theophylline (1,3-DMX) in smaller amounts.

“Pendell's corner

Our culture, in a cup. ... is coffee a good guy or a bad guy? Poison. One of the greats.

— Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Dynamis, p. 44