Thursday, November 1, 2007

How to decaffeinate tea

So I was in Whole Foods the other day, and one of those sample ladies was offering free samples of tea. I asked if she had any that was decaffeinated and she told me that there was a way to decaffeinate almost any tea! I had never heard of this before. She also told me that commercially processed decaffeinated tea is usually done by using harsh chemicals, and that you are better off decaffeinating your own tea. Now, I and my mom, ever since we lived in England, love Earl Grey tea, but we both usually buy the decaffeinated kind. So I was very intrigued by this idea. So of course, I looked it up on the internet as soon as I got home. You can decaffeinate up to 80% of regular tea by applying the following procedure.

  • Pour boiling water (less than boiling water for green/white teas) over the tea leaves or tea bag and swish it around for 20-30 seconds. This gives it a good rinse through.
  • Discard the water (this contains around 80% of the caffeine)
  • Pour fresh boiling water (less than boiling water for green/white teas) over the rinsed tea leaves (and brew for the recommended length of time (depending on the type of tea)
  • Caffeine is highly water soluble, and nearly 80% is extracted from the leaves in the first 20-30 seconds of steeping.

2 comments:

Granola said...

Wow! I'm always doing decaf tea. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

This is really handy! Thanks for the info!