May. 31. 24 THE SEARCH FOR DECAF CONTINUES
We have been tea tasting and searching tirelessly for a high quality decaffeinated black tea to replace the decaf Nilgiri tea we once had access to. We have yet to find one that meets our standards of quality and flavour.
This is mainly to do with the fact that our incredible tea suppliers have all also been facing this challenge of decaf tea sourcing that is not only swiss water processed, but highly delicious and organic.
We have many of you on our decaf black tea email list and will notify you as soon as the team has sourced, tasted and approved a delicious replacement! If you would like to be added to our decaf waitlist, email us at hello@westholmetea.com
In the meantime...
We have ventured into a few different steeping methods to achieve a less caffeinated tea at home! Before we get into some great alternatives, it is important to note,
There is no such thing as an entirely decaffeinated tea.
Did you know?
All true tea is made from camellia sinensis. Caffeine is a natural component of the tea plant and is actually apart of the built in self-defense mechanism that protects the tea plant from insects!
While numerous decaffeination methods have been developed to remove caffeine from tea, the Swiss Water Process has been found to be the most gentle and effective.
The Swiss Water Method, is a process that soaks the tea leaves in hot water for a period of time to delicately remove the caffeine without costing the flavor and quality of the tea.
Although effective, the Swiss Water Method removes most of the caffeine content from the tea leaves, but a trace amount of caffeine is still left behind.
We may not be able to offer you Swiss Water Processed decaf tea at the moment, but we can share a few helpful methods you can use at home to help reduce your caffeine intake!
Just like the Swiss Water Process, you can rinse your tea leaves before steeping to achieve a less caffeinated tea right at home! It's as simple as flashing the tea with hot water, then immediately pouring off the first steep.
Did you know?
All teas can be re-steeped, it just comes down to personal preference of taste!
:: How to brew a low caffeinated cup of tea at home ::
1. Bring your water to a boil (100 degrees celsius).
2. Prep your tea, we recommend adding 2 grams of tea per cup of hot water.
3. Pour the boiling water over your tea leaves, allow to steep for 3-5 minutes.
(If brewing green, oolong or white tea, allow boiling water to cool to 85-90 degrees celsius before pouring).
4. Immediately discard the water, this is the strongest steep of tea, therefore, you are removing most contents of the caffeine.
5. Repeat steps 1-3.
6. Enjoy your low caf cup of tea!
Note - Each steep removes more caffeine from the previous steep. If you find that the caffeine content is still too high on the second steep, feel free to do a third or fourth steep!
