Decaffeination 101
Some people avoid decaffeinated tea because of the harsh chemicals used to strip the caffeine from the leaves. The after taste left by the chemicals can ruin the flavour of the tea, often making it unpalatable. At Tea Now, all our teas are caffeine free and we are asked daily about the process we use to decaffeinate the teas we produce.
We use a natural decaffeination process on all of our tea leaves. We thought you might be interested in understanding how our environmentally friendly decaffeination process works and what makes it so special.
Let’s start with chemical decaffeination…
Before we explain our environmentally friendly decaffeination, it is important to understand the various processes that can be used.
Some other tea makers elect to use chemical solvents such as methylene chloride and ethyl acetate to strip the caffeine from their tea leaves. Ethyl acetate is a solvent that can be found in nail polish remover and other lacquers & household cleaners and we certainly don’t recommend ingesting those products!
What’s more, these chemical solvents remove the caffeine, however they can additionally leave behind a chemical residue and strip away the majority of the vitamins and minerals found in the natural tea leaves. This is why at Tea Now, we only use a natural CO2 decaffeination process, which leaves behind no chemical residue nor does it strip the goodness from the tea leaves.
Now let’s explore natural decaffeination…
Our decaffeination process uses carbon dioxide (CO2), a completely natural resource found in the air we breathe. It’s also the gas that gives sparkling water its bubbles.
The CO2 method of decaffeination is far better for the environment and our bodies than using chemical solvents and it doesn’t leave any unnatural chemical residues, just beautiful, fresh, delicious tea.
Carbon dioxide, when compressed, behaves partly like a gas and partly like a liquid and has the ability to combine selectively with caffeine. In our process, the steamed leaves are bathed in the compressed carbon dioxide and the caffeine is gently removed from the carbon dioxide through charcoal filtering.
This method allows the flavour and vitamin & mineral components to remain within the leaves throughout the process, rather than being soaked out and then put back in again, as they are in both the swiss water and the indirect solvent processes.
Here is a breakdown of how we do it at Tea Now!
The tea leaves are moistened with water and placed under pressure.
- Streams of pressurised and heated CO2 are passed through the tea leaves where it bonds with the caffeine molecules while leaving the tea leaves otherwise intact.
- After passing through the tea leaves, the caffeine-laden CO2 is charcoal filtered to remove the caffeine and then recycled for further use in the decaffeination process.
- We then add vitamins & minerals to the decaffeinated leaves while they are wet to enhance their wellness benefits.
- Finally, the newly-decaffeinated, vitamin & mineral packed leaves are dried and packed ready to be enjoyed by our customers.
What does the Soil Association say?...
The Soil Association, who know a thing or two about decaffeinating tea and coffee, they highly approve of CO2 decaffeination for use in organic products. That’s because it is the most natural way to remove caffeine from tea leaves. We are very proud to say that we only ever use CO2 for decaffeination of our teas in our entire range.
Does decaffeinating tea impact the flavour?...
Yes, removing the caffeine even with just CO2 can take away some of the flavour. That’s why at Tea Now we compensate by using only the best quality premium organic teas sourced directly from organic growers around the world.
All our teas deliver a big, full−flavour, even after decaffeination.
Are you ready to try our teas with benefits?...
We’re extremely proud of our high-performance, wellness teas and we know you will enjoy them too. We are currently offering new subscribers a chance to sample our teas. Simply, complete our subscription form at teanow.com.au and we will send you a set of free samples. Hurry, as this offer ends soon!
Kerri Imrie has a Diploma in Business Management and is the founder of Tea Now.
Kerri is passionate about holistic health. Her goal is to empower people to take control of their health and show that the quality of our lives is directly linked to how we treat our bodies and minds. You can follow her @teanow.au
Kerri is not a qualified health practitioner. Always consult a health professional before deciding if a health product is right for you.