Caffeine in 2nd Steeps...?

I have no idea why this just occurred to me, but if you can “decaffeinate” teas by pouring out the first 45 seconds of steeping, does this mean that all 2nd steeps of tea contain no caffeine because you drank it all in the first steep?!? Or is it the first 45 seconds of EACH steep?!

8 Replies

Haha, I’m pretty sure that’s generally regarding as phooey nowadays. :)

Oh! I just read it on some companies website not too long ago so I, of course, assumed it was true (because everything posted on the internet is true!)

Yeah, I wish I had a source that I could say “yes, this is the definitive source debunking this myth”. But I can’t. And you can find just as many websites saying it’s a myth, as websites that say that’s how to do it.

For my own sniff test, I’m going to say no :)

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Dylan is right. It seems implausible that caffeine is leeched out in a mere 45 second steep when dealing with whole leaf teas that unfurl more with each infusion. Also, I’ve had a few sleepless nights trying this method back when I drank from tea bags so even tea dust requires more than a few seconds to remove the caffeine. I eventually learned to listen to my body and stick with decaf and herbals in the evening.

There’s also tea companies who still claim that all white teas are low in caffeine. Worse, some claim that it is naturally caffeine free. Madness I tells ya!

Teas vary so much and the science is so sketchy I just have tell by experience rather than labels. I can probably tell you my impression of caffeine levels in most teas I’ve had. My body is sadly sensitive. Though I usually drink different infusions of the same tea back to back so I’m not sure about comparing the caffeine level in each steeping. Might be worth experimenting some time. :)

Hope that was helpful!

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Kittenna said

While I probably have access to equipment that would allow me to test and definitively figure out something like this, until I have my own lab and funding, I don’t think I can do it. Sigh. It would be super interesting though…

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AJ said

This has long been debunked; it took a bit of digging to find the original thread on it where this article was linked (I’ll have to bookmark it, I think—this question comes up a lot!), but:

http://www.elmwoodinn.com/about/caffeine.html

The general consensus is it takes at /least/ five minutes of steeping to remove the majority of caffeine (~60-80% of it).

Chadao posted a much more recent thread on this, referencing other studies done on the subject:

http://steepster.com/discuss/3060-sorting-through-the-myths-caffeine-in-tea

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Wow! Look at all the great stuff I can learn from a wayward thought! Thanks Steepsterites for your wonderful information (and just for being wonderful!) :)

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Caffeine is an important source of bitterness in tea. If you steep tea for a long time, more caffeine is released and that’s one of the reasons it becomes so bitter. The same thing happens when resteeping, so I don’t think that 45 seconds will be enough.

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