best decaf earl grey, eng breakfast, etc?

Hi,

Sorry for potential repetition of an old topic, but can anyone recommend a good decaf tea, preferably an Earl Grey, English or Irish Breakfast, or Darjeeling? I'm getting bored with Herbal...

Cheers,

Sally

Reply to
Sally P.
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I usually order from

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and I've also ordered from
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Both have sample sizes so you won't get stuck with a bunch of tea that you don't like.

How are you with rooibos? It's naturally caffeine-free and I enjoy Upton's Earl Grey version.

If you want to get something right away, look for Bigelow's decaf Earl Grey at your local supermarket. I haven't seen the others decaf'd except maybe a decaf Twinings Darjeeling. Can't be sure - it's been awhile since I looked and I've never tried it anyway, just the Bigelow's EG and decaf EG.

You can also decaf tea yourself. It's really easy, just brew for about 45 seconds, discard the water and then continue to brew with fresh hot water. It works because caffeine is water-soluble and approximately 80% of the caffeine in tea is released during the first 30 seconds of brewing. I wouldn't recommend going over a minute, though, because at that point, the rate of caffeine being released is greatly reduced and the tannins that make tea taste bitter are more likely to affect your "second" brewing.

HTH.

Reply to
Bluesea

Sally - Asking these characters (including me) about decaf aromatized teas is like asking Chuck Yager about Microsoft Flight Simulator :) If caffein is a really big problem for you, my advice is not going to help, but if you just trying to have less caffein (not eliminating it completely) you may try:

  1. Genmaicha, especially 2d and follwoing steeps.
  2. Green teas 2d and follwoing steeps after 3 min first steep. This will considerably (as I was told) diminish your caffeine intake.
  3. Puerhs (both black and green) that can be resteeped many times and retain almost all of their flavour (so just do not drink 1st and 2d steeps) I think there is a way to steep black teas with warm water (110-120 F) so that caffein is gone and then steep them the usual way, but I may be wrong. Sasha.

Reply to
Alex Chaihorsky

I drink Rooibos in the evening, sometimes during the day. Rooibos has the advantage that is is very inexpensive in bulk, although to make an infusion from it requires a very fine strainer or filter. It has some of the health benefits of tea (though the red version has about half the bioflavanoids of green tea- but it's decaf and you can brew it quite strong).

I believe CO2 decaf tea is the best. I have tried decaf teas before and I don't like the flavor much at all generally. I haven't tried CO2 method but I have read it is the best at preserving flavor and polyphenols, but it's also harder to get (several online tea vendors sell CO2 decaf teas).

Green tea and Oolong are both low in caffeine. A cup of green or oolong tea (properly brewed, no more than 3 minutes or so if loose, a 1- 1 1/2 minutes in bagged) has about the same caffeine as a can of Coke/Pepsi, or about 1/3- the caffeine of a cup of coffee.

I've cut back on my caffeine alot. Now I only drink a cup of coffee in the morning or maybe one in the afternoon, the rest of it is green/Oolong tea or Rooibos, and occasionally some Assam or Lapsong Souchang.

Reply to
magnulus

Sorry to tell you this Sally, but even "decaffeinated" tea has caffeine in it. Who cares anyway? Tea has much lower caffeine content than coffee and there is no evidence that moderate caffeine intake is harmful. The decaffeination process itself may introduce unpleasant chemicals. In its natural state tea is amazing stuff with huge health benefits and glorious complexity of flavour - so why mess with it. Go on - live a little.

For a little more info check out

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(these guys sell the sort of decaf you might be looking for),
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For useful links to caffeine information, try
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howlerman

Reply to
howlerman

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