The technology of making the Decafeine Tea

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The technology of making the Decafeine Tea

by teachat » Jun 7th, '05, 15:49

Please, help me to find out about the technology of making the decafeine tea. Just in principle.
Thank you!

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by teachat » Jun 7th, '05, 15:49

There are two principal compounds used to decaffeinate tea: ethyl acetate and carbon dioxide (CO2). The latter is a bit more expensive, but produces better results - it's gentle on the leaves, and does not affect the tea's taste. When given a choice, opt for the the better CO2 method.

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by teachat » Jun 7th, '05, 15:49

Is decaffeinate tea less healty then others ?

Eli Brin

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by teachat » Jun 7th, '05, 15:50

If you want to know how to decafinate your favorite tea here is an easy way to get most of it. You steep your tea for about30-45 seconds at 180 degrees water. take out your tea bags or steepers poor out water in your cup, put steeper back into cup pour more water over tea and you have just decafinated you tea between 80-90 percent of your tea. Cool huh read it in one of my tea books. Try it, you might be surprised.......glen

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by retrogradesonnet » Jul 24th, '07, 15:09

teachat wrote:Is decaffeinate tea less healty then others ?

Eli Brin
Yes, in some cases. No in others.

Sometimes the decaffeinating process takes out the other healthy chemicals from tea, but the CO2 method is better about that.

And sometimes caffeine itself is healthy for you. It gets your heart rate going and makes you more active, all of which is good in general. For some people who have health issues or heart trouble, however, artificially increasing your heart rate can be a bad or dangerous thing. Those people usually know who they are and routinely avoid caffeine intake.

Removing caffeine yourself is probably the best option because 80-90% of caffeine is infused in the first minute of steeping, while it takes 5 minutes for tea to release antioxidants. That makes it easy to take get the anti-oxidants and leave the caffeine behind!
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by scruffmcgruff » Jul 24th, '07, 19:59

I'm skeptical about the loss of so much caffeine in the first steep. I've definitely heard about it before, but I've also heard conflicting arguments. Do you have a source for the 80-90% figure?
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by Space Samurai » Jul 24th, '07, 20:19

I've heard the same thing from the Rep of Tea guy, but it turns out he doesn't know jack, so I'm skeptical, too.

I know that sometimes when I drink 4-6 cups of bai hao yin zhen in a row, using the same leaves, I end up feeling pretty jazzed.

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by retrogradesonnet » Jul 24th, '07, 23:31

http://blog.thesimpleleaf.com/2006/07/2 ... inate-tea/
http://lifehacker.com/software/caffeine ... 206574.php
http://www.inpursuitoftea.com/Health_Be ... a_s/33.htm

For the last link, it's the last section in that article.

The reason you're so jazzed is because the polyphenols in tea serve as regulators of your body's caffeine intake, which prevents it from absorbing large amounts of caffeine at one time, resulting in a steadier buzz over a longer period of time.

I'm not quoting it as a source, because the above are some of my sources, but this was my most recent blog post on my tea blog: http://infuseme.blogspot.com

The true test would be to do the home decaffeinating method and see if you still get buzzed.

I hope this helps!

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by scruffmcgruff » Jul 25th, '07, 00:26

The problem is, none of these sources tell *how* they got those numbers, and could just be reporting the same tale we've all heard.

However, after a little searching I found this article.

"The overall average caffeine released in the first through third brews were 69%, 23%, and 8%, respectively." Though it doesn't say so in the abstract, in the full article it is mentioned that the brews were 5 minutes each. So... at least one scientific study disagrees.

I found this article through a discussion here.

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by retrogradesonnet » Jul 25th, '07, 00:48

I wouldn't call that disagreement. It depends on the temperature of water, the steeping time and method, not to mention what kind of tea you're using! The tea to water ratio may also affect it...

It seems pretty universal that the majority of tea's caffeine can be got rid of if need be.
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by scruffmcgruff » Jul 25th, '07, 01:27

Well... 5 minutes is going to be far longer than any reasonable rinse, as there would be little tea flavor left afterwards.

Also, you can't ask for more caffeine leeching potential than you would get with boiling water and teabags (increased solubility and surface area).

It is true that the leaf/water ratio may play a role, but the myth doesn't mention any specific parameters, thus implying that it doesn't matter. Anyway, it does seem possible that a good deal of caffeine would come out in the first infusion, as caffeine is quite hydrophillic, I'm just debating the 80-90% number.
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by Ashiro » Nov 29th, '07, 02:33

I did a post on my blog just yesterday on how tea is decaffeinated: http://www.wondersoftea.com/2007/11/how ... nated.html

In short: Don't do it!!

It loses taste, goodness and soul.

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