As someone who studies tea, writes about it, receives free samples of it in the mail and pretty much feels that it’s an all around good thing, it’s no surprise that I drink a lot of the stuff. But my tea consumption pales next to what it would be if I weren’t sensitive to caffeine. Oh, woe.
Of course, there’s a simple solution to that, you say – decaffeinated tea. Next problem, please. Well, not so fast, Keemun breath. Not all decaffeinated tea is created equal. First and foremost, the selection can be quite spotty, especially if you’re fond of more exotic varieties. Perhaps even more important, the taste varies widely, from not so bad to slightly better than used bathwater.
Is there such a thing as a good decaffeinated tea? I don’t have a wide enough experience with these varieties to say. And while caffeine – which is quite bitter on its own – may or may not a critical part of a tea’s flavor profile, one can’t help but wonder if, by removing it, some of the flavor of the tea goes along with it.
According to one popular and widely circulated myth, tea can be decaffeinated by simply rinsing the leaves in hot water for about 30 seconds and discarding the water. More on why this is probably not the case here.
In reality, up until recently, there were two main ways to remove caffeine from tea. One makes use of pressurized carbon dioxide in a process that removes caffeine – and supposedly little else – from the tea leaves. The other process is thought by many not to be as desirable or effective since it makes use of chemicals like methylene chloride and ethyl acetate to strip tea of its caffeine.
Not long ago, a group of Chinese scientists announced the results of their work with yet another decaffeination process. As noted in this article, their process uses “ultrasonic-enhanced supercritical fluid extraction.” In plainer language this means that ultrasonic waves are to break up a substance, such as caffeine, and capture certain parts of it.
Don’t forget to pay Mr. Lengeman a visit over on his blog, Tea Guy Speaks!
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