TEA TYPES AND CAFFEINE
Why drink Tea? Tea is medicinal and contains long term health benefits. It has been around since ancient civilization. It is an affordable luxury that has been forgotten. Twisted Leaf is here to show you why and how you need to bring tea and tea-like drinks into your everyday life! Learn about the healthy benefits of tea and herbals!
What is Tea? Tea comes from the leaves of the Camellia Sinesis plant, steeped in hot water. See the 5 basic categories below. There are different types of tea due to geography, growing conditions and processing. The Camellia Sinesis plant is native
to Asia. However, it is cultivated around the globe in tropical and sub-tropical areas. True tea naturally contains caffeine. See below for a simple and natural way to decaffienate your tea.
What is not Tea? "Herbal Tea" is not actually tea at all but a 'tea-like' drink correctly called a tisane. It contains herbs, fruits and/or botanicals. It can be packaged, infused, and enjoyed like tea. For example, our Soothing Cranberry "herbal tea" is an fusion of fruits and herbs. It contains apple pieces, stinging nettle leaves, lemon grass, freeze-dried cranberry slices, sweet blackberry leaves with flavoring. Tisanes have no caffeine.
Five basic categories of tea are; Black, Oolong, Green, White, and Puerh.
Black tea - is the most processed. It is allowed to wither then goes through oxidation. Not to be confused with fermentation. Through oxidation, water evaporates out of the leaf and more oxygen is absorbed from the air. Black teas are usually fully oxidized. This results in the typically enhanced robust flavors of black teas. A higher caffeine content is produced when brewed appropriately. Per cup, it's usually 50% less caffeine than coffee. Earl Gray is a traditional popular black tea.
Oolong tea - undergoes partial oxidation. These teas have a caffeine content and flavor between green teas and black teas. The flavor of oolong teas is normally not as robust as blacks or as subtle as greens, but has its own extremely fragrant and intriguing tones. Oolongs, such as Wuyi, are often compared to the taste and aroma of fresh flowers or fresh fruit. For the best of both worlds, drink Oolong tea!
Green tea - is allowed to wither only slightly after being picked. The oxidation process is usually skipped or stopped abruptly by firing (rapidly heating) the leaves. Japan and China vary in their processing. The results leave green tea having less caffeine per cup (10-30% of coffee). Greens usually produce more subtle flavors , undertones and accents that tea enthusiasts adore. Try our best seller Green Pomegranate, which is a fusion of high quality green tea with rose hips! Try Exotic Jasmine Pearls tea! My Favorite. You can steep the same serving of tea mulitple times.
However, do not keep it for hours to re-use it later. Re-steep it within a few hours at most.
White tea - is the least processed undergoing no oxidation. They are the most delicate and lightly flavored of all teas. They are known for their subtlety, complexity, and natural sweetness. They are hand processed using the youngest shoots of the tea plant. When brewed correctly, low amounts of caffeine are produced. They are steeped in very low temperature and a short time.
Try our Organic White Gogi Blossom Tea!
Puerh - is an aged black tea from China. It is treasured for its medicinal properties and earthy notes. Before 1995 it was illegal to import it into the U.S. The teas' process is a closely protected state secret in China. It is very strong with an incredibly deep and rich flavor, and no bitterness. *We do not currently carry this tea. Please check back soon.
Steeping tea in the right water temperature!
- White: 140-165 - warm to touch but well before boiling
- Green: 170-180 - when the water starts to let off steam
- Oolong 190-205 - right before it boils or after it boils, let it cool for 3 minutes, then steep
- Black: Above 200 - just boiling water, usually before your kettle whistles!
- Herbal: Above 200 - just boiling water, usually before your kettle whistles!
TIP! White and Green teas are best steeped with water at lower temperatures, never boiling.
Never use rolling boiled water. This will really scald the leaves and diminish flavor and health benefits.
About Caffeine - Per cup Tea does not contain more caffein than coffee. We'll explain.
Pound for pound, you get 200 cups of tea versus 50-60 cups of coffee per pound. Therefore, tea contains only ¼ to ½ the
caffeine per cup of coffee. Check out the chart to compare per cup of coffee verse teas. More to come on caffeine.
Learn About Tea, Caffeine Content and Steeping Time!
30 seconds to "decaf" your tea! It's simple.
To naturally decaffeinate your tea, simply empty the hot water out after 30 seconds of steeping. Then return to the original steeping instructions for your tea. Yep,, that's all!
Most of the caffeine comes out of the leaves within 30 seconds. You should still have a great, flavorful cup of tea minus the caffeine.
Since tea and coffee are both naturally caffeinated, decaffeinated options do still contain a very minimal amount of caffeine. That is why you've probably heard somebody "swear there's caffeine..." still in their decaf cup!
We do not carry many decaffeinated teas. There simply is not a decaf option for each tea available. We do sell other tea-like drinks with no caffeine, such as "herbal tea" and Rooibos "tea"contain healthy benefits too.
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