I need a new tea... without caffeine :(

Made from leaves that have not been oxidized.


Jun 5th, '09, 19:22
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I need a new tea... without caffeine :(

by greenteafreak » Jun 5th, '09, 19:22

Or at least very little. Basically, I normally drink 10-12 cups of green tea a day. They typically claim anywhere between 20 and 30 mg of caffeine on the bag. I've never had an issue sleeping, but it apparently reacts very strongly with my new m-e-d-i-c-a-t-i-o-n (apparently that word is banned around here>) and I need to change it up.

I'm looking for the most antioxidants and the least caffeine I can find. I mainly drink the yogi brands... the super anti-oxidant is my favorite, also like the energy, kombucha, echinecha, pretty much all of the green tea varieties they have.

Any recommendations on some good green teas that have no/very little caffeine?

Jun 5th, '09, 19:30
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by Proinsias » Jun 5th, '09, 19:30

Just my opinion but it may be worth looking at some good quality, loose leaf white tea if you are looking for a decent anti-oxidant vs caffeine ratio in the cup.

I think the more broken up the leaf is, like in tea bags, the quicker the tea will give up the caffeine. In my understanding you could have a few short steeps of whole leaf white tea and toss much of the caffeine in the bin as you throw out the leaf, with very broken leaf the caffeine, along with pretty much everything else, is more likely to hit the brew quicker - less of the caffeine making it to the bin and more to your stomach.

I may be very wrong though.....

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Jun 5th, '09, 20:11
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by TEAcipes » Jun 5th, '09, 20:11

doesn't white tea contain a considerable amount of caffeine as well?

what I usually recommend is to do a quick first infusion to wash out most of the caffeine, and then drink the second infusion. Alternatively, in Japan, they serve houji-cha (roasted green tea) in hospitals because it's *lower* in caffeine than normal greens (it burns off during the roasting process).

however, if you're worried about interactions with your chemical therapy, I seriously suggest asking your physician first.

just my two cents!
bring new life to your cup of tea! http://www.teacipes.com

Jun 5th, '09, 20:56
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by Ebtoulson » Jun 5th, '09, 20:56

yes a quick steep removes most caffeine (supposedly, I'm no scientist :P)
The biggest surprise is that approximately 80% of the water soluble caffeine in tea is released during the first 30 seconds of brewing. So, to remove most of the caffeine from your tea, simply pour boiling water over the loose-leaf tea leaves in your teapot, allow the tea to steep for 30 seconds, and then discard the liquid. Use the same tea leaves with fresh hot water to brew a close to fully decaffeinated cup of tea for drinking.
Have you tried rooibos? It has more antioxidants than green tea and no caffeine.

Jun 5th, '09, 21:02
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by Proinsias » Jun 5th, '09, 21:02

Ebtoulson wrote:yes a quick steep removes most caffeine (supposedly, I'm no scientist :P)
I think that idea has been called into question here a few times, there was also a great post on ChaDao about it a while back.

Ah, here it is.

Jun 5th, '09, 21:57
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by greenteafreak » Jun 5th, '09, 21:57

I just checked out the decaffeinated green tea selections at Amazon, and wanted to see if anyone had any opinions on them.

As I already said, I love the Yogi brand of green teas. I like to mix them up, I like the subtle differences in flavor, and I guess I'm just a bit of a brand whore. Anyway, I need to find a replacement but still want to drink 10-12 cups a day.

1) Bigelow green decaf - I've always hated this stuff, maybe it just reminds me of sitting in an office. It would always get super bitter if I steeped it for just a little too long, and I remember the flavor to be average at best.

2) Lipton Green tea decaf - Seriously? It's gotten pretty good reviews but to me it would be like choosing kraft singles over a really nice brie. But maybe I'm just being snobby.

3) Good Earth Green Tea decaf - great reviews.

4) TAZO Lotus Green Tea decaf - great reviews.

5) Tetley natural green tea decaf

6) Davidson's tea, decaf green

7) Stash organic decaf premium green tea

8) Triple leaf tea, green organic

Anyone tried any of these? Any opinions?

Jun 5th, '09, 22:09
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by greenteafreak » Jun 5th, '09, 22:09

Proinsias wrote:
Ebtoulson wrote:yes a quick steep removes most caffeine (supposedly, I'm no scientist :P)
I think that idea has been called into question here a few times, there was also a great post on ChaDao about it a while back.

Ah, here it is.
After reading that, it sounds like I should find one utilizing the CO2 process. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find one through google yet...

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Jun 5th, '09, 23:10
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by thirtysixbelow » Jun 5th, '09, 23:10

It would seem to me if you did a quick steep and tossed it to remove the caffeine you would probably also be removing the health benefits / antioxidants as well. Houjicha was suggested earlier and that is a great low caffiene tea, but my personal favorite is rooibos (either adagios plain rooibos or vanilla rooibos). Delicious.

Jun 5th, '09, 23:14
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by greenteafreak » Jun 5th, '09, 23:14

thirtysixbelow wrote:It would seem to me if you did a quick steep and tossed it to remove the caffeine you would probably also be removing the health benefits / antioxidants as well. Houjicha was suggested earlier and that is a great low caffiene tea, but my personal favorite is rooibos (either adagios plain rooibos or vanilla rooibos). Delicious.
That doesn't work anyway. So now I guess I'm after one (or a few) really good Co2 green tea decaf types.

The triple leaf is co2 based, and found a few others.

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Jun 6th, '09, 00:08
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by joelbct » Jun 6th, '09, 00:08

If you are after antioxidants w/o caffeine, try this Pomegranate Juice, mixing your own from concentrate is 1/10th the cost of Pom, which is also from concentrate.

Very high in polyphenols... And tastes great, i drink it in seltzer...

Image

Jun 6th, '09, 01:52
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by greenteafreak » Jun 6th, '09, 01:52

I bought three types today from WF. Details tomorrow.

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Jun 6th, '09, 10:15
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by Rainy-Day » Jun 6th, '09, 10:15

Try a good white tea. For example, the one from houdeasianart.com or from teaspring.com. Some white teas have a lot of caffeine, but the silver needle tea at least "feels" like it has very little of it.

You should also try getting into loose teas and away from teabags. It makes a huge difference in terms of taste.

Jun 6th, '09, 10:51

by Ed » Jun 6th, '09, 10:51

I agree about the Silver Needle and what Proinsias said about whole leaf teas. I got some Silver Needle recently and it didn't even have enough of a caffeine kick to wake me up in the morning the way sencha does. Try some whole leaf Chinese green and white teas. Rooibos is your friend too.

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Jun 6th, '09, 11:32
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by thirtysixbelow » Jun 6th, '09, 11:32

joelbct wrote:If you are after antioxidants w/o caffeine, try this Pomegranate Juice, mixing your own from concentrate is 1/10th the cost of Pom, which is also from concentrate.

Very high in polyphenols... And tastes great, i drink it in seltzer...

Image
I always ignored POM due to price, but that stuff looks pretty reasonable. I might have to try it :)

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Jun 6th, '09, 11:49
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by silverneedles » Jun 6th, '09, 11:49

joelbct wrote:Pomegranate Juice concentrate
good find J ,thx

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