About Lauren Expertise I can answer questions about tea history--especially tea during the Victorian era, customs, how to prepare tea, types of tea, tips on tea party planning and execution, recipes for classic tea treats. Strongest knowledge in area of American and European history and customs but weak in the area of Asian history and customs.
Experience Publishing a regional newsletter on the subject of tea in southern California since the fall of 1997. Have given talks on the subject of tea to local organizations.
Organizations belong to Riverside Museum Associates, Riverside, California
Publications The Tea Lover's Gazette
Education/Credentials Harney & Sons Tea Conference, 1998
Largely self-taught with an extensive personal library on the subject of tea.
Question I drink green tea for several reasons. My question
is...how do they decaf tea? Are there any chemicals involved in the process and if so, does
it take away from all the good stuff in green tea?
And of course I would like to know if the process does include any chemicals, are they good or bad
in your opinion?
Answer Dear Traci,
Thank you for your question. While the way tea is processed is outside my area of expertise, I will offer some comments about tea and caffeine in general. First of all, it was once thought that green tea has less caffeine than black tea. Recent studies have shown this is not always the case. In fact, caffeine content depends on the leaf and not how it is processed (exposed to air or not). While I don't know how tea processers decaf tea (and I suspect there is more than one method as there is for coffee, some good, some not so good), there is a very simple way to decaf your own at home. Just Prepare your tea the usual way, let it sit 45 seconds, pour off the resulting brew and brew the same tea leaves again. This is a good method for black and oolong teas. In the case of green tea, your preference, I would suggest brewing the tea the normal 2 to 3 minutes. Then discard that liquid and brew the leaves again. Green teas, unlike oxidized (fermented, that is black and oolong)teas, actually taste better the second time around so if you always prepare your green tea this way you can buy regular green and not have to worry about getting decaf tea and how it was processed! Tea experts refer to tea done this way as "second infusion" tea. Tea that has been given the 45 second treatment will have about 90 to 95% of the caffeine removed. (Even commercial decaf tea--or coffee--is not completely caffeine-free) Since tea varies in content from 10 to 50 mg per cup, this will result in a brew very low in caffeine. If you reduce this by 90 to 95%, this means your home processed brew could have anywhere from 0.5 to 5 mg of caffeine! (Typically, coffee has 80 to 110 mg per brewed cup so even not-decaffeinated tea is considerably lower in caffeine content).
