Last tasting note of the day…I can’t take anymore. I feel like my eyeballs are floating and I’ve got quite the caffeine buzz going on causing a slight headache. I can’t remember the last time I drank so many different teas in one day and each tea is being brewed at least 2-3 times. Tea drunk perhaps?
This one intrigued me because it supposedly resembles jasmine. Mmm, jasmine. The dry leaves appear to be mostly curled dark green leaves with some white leaves mixed in. The dry smell took me a while to place. It smells like the black licorice candies you get for Halloween. That put me off a little because I don’t like licorice. The wet leaves smelled like that candy licorice, some sort of citrus note, floral notes and a vegetal note hiding in the corner.
Taste was floral, not jasmine, a lot softer than jasmine, definitely not soapy. There were hints of sweet citrus and grapes and a tingling sensation on the tip of the tongue in the aftertaste. The licorice taste was still there but it wasn’t that icky sticky sweetness in the back of the throat. I didn’t care for it but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
The one thing I really noticed about this tea is that it is really calming. I’ve been drinking so much tea that the caffeine is really making me twitchy and giving me a headache. This tea is calming me down even though I’m still very alert and my headache has calmed down to barely noticeable. A nice bonus.
I would rate this tea a bit higher, but that candy licorice is slightly off-putting to me. It’s the only thing I have bad to say about this tea. Other than that it is wonderful.
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The calming effect may be from the theanine in the tea; I primarily think of green teas as having lots of theanine, but my understanding is some teas in other classes—especially the teas that are largely composed of buds—can also have lots of theanine.
Drinking too much caffeine gives me migraines… I am definitely trying to cut back. I have heard if you steep your leaves more than once, the other infusions will contain less caffeine. :)
Whites have the most caffeine anyway don’t they?
I have personally not seen an accurate and straightforward answer to the ‘caffeine’ question. My understanding is that are primarily three things affect the caffeine in the tea liquor (there seems to be number of minor ones, as well). 1) The number of buds in the dry tea, as buds are purported to have the most caffeine. 2) Steeping time: the longer the steep, the more caffeine that is extracted. 3) Steeping temperature: here is a great graph (from Den’s Teas website) that show how the hotter the temperature, the more caffeine that’s extracted http://www.denstea.com/perfect_brewing.html (You may have to scroll down to see the graph).
White teas white teas are traditionally bud-only teas, but these days, some of the lower-graded white teas have more leaves than buds. They are often brewed at temperatures lower then with the other classes of Tea; they are often steeped for shorter on longer that other classes of tea, depending on the class. I often drink white tea in the evening (steeped about 160-170F, for 2 – 5 minutes) and have never had a hard time falling asleep. I am susceptible to caffeine however, and have had problems sleeping after drinking black teas in the evening. So, it all depends on how you brew it, and how your body reacts to it, as far as I see it.
I always heard white teas had the least amount of caffeine and black teas had the most…
As I understand it, all types have the same amount of caffeine. Black tea just tends to release it quicker, because the leaves are broken into smaller pieces. So the leaves have the same concentration but a cup of black will have a higher concentration than a cup of white.
the whole caffeine issue confuses me because there is so much conflicting data out there. All I know is that I drank a lot more than I usually do and I certainly felt the effects!
Determining wow much caffeine is actually in that cup you’re drinking does indeed seem to be complex. As Angrboda brought up, and as I understand it, the ratio of surface area to the weight of tea also pays a part. The more broken the dry tea is, the more surface area there is (by weight), thus the faster (and perhaps easier) it is for the water to penetrate into the leaf.
btw, from what I have read, I don’t think the method of processing (i.e. whether a leaf is processed into green, or black or white, etc,)
has a dramatic effect on the amount of caffeine that particular leaf has (although, theoretically, the shape of it may determine how quickly it releases caffeine into your cup).
Invader Zim: If the teas you drank were composed primarily of ‘buds’, and since you drank lots of them, then I can understand why you felt the effects.
@SimpliciTEA, I think you’re spot on with your caffeine in tea research. I’ve done my own research and come up with the same conclusions.
Thanks, CHAroma. I always appreciate hearing about the conclusions of others—whether they are the same or different than my own (especially when they’re based on ‘scientific research’—using that word loosely here).
Most of the teas were a mix of big peony leaves and buds.
The calming effect may be from the theanine in the tea; I primarily think of green teas as having lots of theanine, but my understanding is some teas in other classes—especially the teas that are largely composed of buds—can also have lots of theanine.
Drinking too much caffeine gives me migraines… I am definitely trying to cut back. I have heard if you steep your leaves more than once, the other infusions will contain less caffeine. :)
Whites have the most caffeine anyway don’t they?
I have personally not seen an accurate and straightforward answer to the ‘caffeine’ question. My understanding is that are primarily three things affect the caffeine in the tea liquor (there seems to be number of minor ones, as well). 1) The number of buds in the dry tea, as buds are purported to have the most caffeine. 2) Steeping time: the longer the steep, the more caffeine that is extracted. 3) Steeping temperature: here is a great graph (from Den’s Teas website) that show how the hotter the temperature, the more caffeine that’s extracted http://www.denstea.com/perfect_brewing.html (You may have to scroll down to see the graph).
White teas white teas are traditionally bud-only teas, but these days, some of the lower-graded white teas have more leaves than buds. They are often brewed at temperatures lower then with the other classes of Tea; they are often steeped for shorter on longer that other classes of tea, depending on the class. I often drink white tea in the evening (steeped about 160-170F, for 2 – 5 minutes) and have never had a hard time falling asleep. I am susceptible to caffeine however, and have had problems sleeping after drinking black teas in the evening. So, it all depends on how you brew it, and how your body reacts to it, as far as I see it.
I always heard white teas had the least amount of caffeine and black teas had the most…
As I understand it, all types have the same amount of caffeine. Black tea just tends to release it quicker, because the leaves are broken into smaller pieces. So the leaves have the same concentration but a cup of black will have a higher concentration than a cup of white.
the whole caffeine issue confuses me because there is so much conflicting data out there. All I know is that I drank a lot more than I usually do and I certainly felt the effects!
Determining wow much caffeine is actually in that cup you’re drinking does indeed seem to be complex. As Angrboda brought up, and as I understand it, the ratio of surface area to the weight of tea also pays a part. The more broken the dry tea is, the more surface area there is (by weight), thus the faster (and perhaps easier) it is for the water to penetrate into the leaf.
btw, from what I have read, I don’t think the method of processing (i.e. whether a leaf is processed into green, or black or white, etc,)
has a dramatic effect on the amount of caffeine that particular leaf has (although, theoretically, the shape of it may determine how quickly it releases caffeine into your cup).
Invader Zim: If the teas you drank were composed primarily of ‘buds’, and since you drank lots of them, then I can understand why you felt the effects.
@SimpliciTEA, I think you’re spot on with your caffeine in tea research. I’ve done my own research and come up with the same conclusions.
Thanks, CHAroma. I always appreciate hearing about the conclusions of others—whether they are the same or different than my own (especially when they’re based on ‘scientific research’—using that word loosely here).
Most of the teas were a mix of big peony leaves and buds.