Biggest Energy Boost

Fully oxidized tea leaves for a robust cup.


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Apr 3rd, '08, 23:44
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Biggest Energy Boost

by Joe Z » Apr 3rd, '08, 23:44

Looking for a real "wake-me-up" tea to drink in the morning before school. I need something that can just get me going with 1-2 cups.

Any suggestions?

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Apr 3rd, '08, 23:49
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by trent » Apr 3rd, '08, 23:49

If you're really looking for an energy boost, I'd recommend a pu erh.

however, I generally don't have time for a full on gong fu session before school, so I usually have a bowl of nicely frothed matcha.

Apr 4th, '08, 01:12
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Re: Biggest Energy Boost

by Pentox » Apr 4th, '08, 01:12

Joe Z wrote:Looking for a real "wake-me-up" tea to drink in the morning before school. I need something that can just get me going with 1-2 cups.

Any suggestions?
Matcha is probably your best bet for that, since you are basically drinking down the leaf. Nice hefty dosage of caffeine packed in there.

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Apr 4th, '08, 06:27
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by olivierco » Apr 4th, '08, 06:27

Gyokuro sure gives you a big boost too but it is a green tea and you posted in black tea category.
Keemun helps me to start the day.

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Apr 4th, '08, 09:18
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by omegapd » Apr 4th, '08, 09:18

This brings up something I've thought about before but never asked...

If all tea comes from the same plant, why would there be a difference in caffeine levels? Would the way tea is processed have anything to do with caffeine levels?

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Apr 4th, '08, 11:12
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by Sam. » Apr 4th, '08, 11:12

It's a guess but I think the processing of darker teas (oolongs, blacks) might make the caffeine more accessible during steeping than in less processed teas? I'm not sure though! And along the lines of powdered teas, powdered sencha might be a more cost effective choice to easily pop into a water bottle or something in the morning. Since it's the powdered leaf (like matcha) wouldn't you get the same sort of energy boost as matcha? I know Wes does it and now that it's getting warmer out I'm gonna try it this summer.

Apr 4th, '08, 12:17
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by Pentox » Apr 4th, '08, 12:17

olivierco wrote:Gyokuro sure gives you a big boost too but it is a green tea and you posted in black tea category.
Keemun helps me to start the day.
Heh, I was wondering when the plug for gyokuro would show up. Never get between oliverco and some gyo.

Apr 4th, '08, 12:21
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by Pentox » Apr 4th, '08, 12:21

omegapd wrote:This brings up something I've thought about before but never asked...

If all tea comes from the same plant, why would there be a difference in caffeine levels? Would the way tea is processed have anything to do with caffeine levels?
Well caffeine is always a complicated question. There really are two parts to this question though. Caffeine in the leaf and caffeine in the beverage.

Caffeine in the leaf: The amount of caffeine in a the leaf itself starts from the actual plant itself. The caffeine is a natural product in the plant, which through cultivation, breeding, fertilizing, etc. can produce different amounts. One thing in particular that I have heard is that the heavy fertilization that the Japanese use for their tea tends to increase the caffeine content.

Caffeine in the beverage: Extraction of caffeine from tea is very temperature dependent. Black teas are steeped at boiling temperatures where greens use colder water. As a result even if the leaves had equal amounts of caffeine just prior to brewing the black tea would extract more. Then there's also the extraction time to take into effect, yadda yadda yadda.

To put it simply unless you're doing a very very detailed controlled study of the caffeine content, it's almost a random crapshoot.

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Apr 4th, '08, 12:23
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by Wesli » Apr 4th, '08, 12:23

Hola señor,

Your best bet will probably be with matcha. The reason being, that there is a lot of caffeine in tea leaves. It is said that, by weight, tea leaf has more caffeine than coffee bean. That said, why tea seems to have less caffeine is because less caffeine actually gets infused into the water during a steeping. Matcha, however, is not held back by this fact. With matcha, you consume the entire leaf. Matcha is a powdered Japanese green tea that you froth up in a bowl of shallow water with a bamboo whisk. It is very tasty.

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Apr 4th, '08, 12:40
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by olivierco » Apr 4th, '08, 12:40

Pentox wrote: Heh, I was wondering when the plug for gyokuro would show up. Never get between oliverco and some gyo.
:lol:

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Apr 4th, '08, 15:18
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by Chip » Apr 4th, '08, 15:18

Another facor is how much leaf you are using. Typically, an experienced drinker will use around 2.3 grams of black leaf...but might use as much as 10 grams of green leaf.

That is huge...
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!

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