It Is Hard to Find a Good Decaf Tea

Thanks folks, for the suggestions. I’ll let you know when I try typhoo, taylors of harrogate, orzo, harney & sons, adagio strawberry or pu ehr.

Lori (not myself) just gave http://steepster.com/teas/leafspa-organic-tea/9131-organic-papaya-pineapple-decaf an 86 made cold brewed. Got my interest, maybe it’ll get yours:)

hey, thanks. i’ll try it

I’m surprised no one here has mentioned the most obvious answer… Simply steep the tea for a bit longer on the first infusion, pour it out, and then enjoy the second! It wont remove all the caffeine, but I found a 1996 study that indicated 70% removal of caffeine after a 5 min steep, 100% removal after 15 mins!

While some of the flavor will be gone, you can still enjoy some of your favorite teas later in the evening!

I am really not a fan of re-steeping as a decaffeination process, especially for black teas. I have found that Upton sells a respectable black decaf Assam tea, and would go with that any day over the best black tea that was resteeped (besides possibly Dawn, which falls outside of the normal scope of black teas). It tastes like bananas.

This is the best study I’ve found on the caffeine in tea, FYI if you want to try steeping the caffeine out: http://www.elmwoodinn.com/about/caffeine.html

In short, 75%-90% of the caffeine was removed in two 3-minute steeps, but the amount of caffeine in any given cup still varies a lot.

The best method I’ve found so far is having one or two infusions of good (normal) black tea early in the day, keeping the leaves, and adding some decaf or herbal to the pot in the evening. The old black leaves have little caffeine to add, but they give the cup a little more depth. I like Adgaio’s Honeybush Hazelnut this way, but haven’t found a decaf tea good enough to recommend.

I had the same problem, as I generally can only drink decaf, especially in the afternoon! I found I had great luck with Element Tea’s decaf teas…I particularly like their Decaf English Breakfast. Like Adagio, their teas also undergo the CO2 decaffeination process, which I did find helped to retain much of the flavor. My husband loves caffeine and I compared my Decaf English Breakfast to his caffeinated English Breakfast. They tasted the same!

Don’t forget, too, that herbals and rooibos teas are caffeine-free too.

I just tried Twinings decaf chai (in bagged form yet) and it was really good! I do suggest a longer steeping time though 6min if you like the 1 bag/6oz water ratio and 7 if you like to make an 8oz cup. I tried it clean 1st. W/ milk is next.

Thanks Cofftea! I will try that.

Celestial Seasonings Decaf Mint Green (which is actually a white/green/peppermint blend) is really good. I suggested a low steeping ~160 degrees for just 1 min… 1.5 min max and using 6oz water instead of the suggest 8. This way it’s not a “make your mouth tingle, clear your sinuses, wake you up” mint, but the tea base is surprisingly strong w/o being bitter and blends w/ the mint very well.