[sarasmid]

I like our very own Healing Forest Tea Blends. Just put one jumbo teabag in a gallon of hot water and it is ready to drink the next day, iced or hot. Can't get easier than that.
They taste quite nice but no caffeine.

[sarasmid]

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[uC4F0NVL]

Iron goddess of mercy.

Those types of teas are easier than tea bags. No packets to unwrap. Toss some tea in the pot/
mug, add hot water, drink. The little nuggets of tea unfurl into whole leaves so cleanup is a cinch.

But we are severely off topic....

[uC4F0NVL]

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[finasteride]

John,

There is really only one type of tea plant (two, depending on whether you consider them separate species) Camellia sinensis. Then there are three main ways of processing it: if you don't roll and oxidize the leaves, it becomes green tea. If you oxidize them slightly, its Oolong tea. If they are fully oxidized, its a black tea.

All tea has caffeine, even green tea. Even de-caf. If an infusion doesn't have caffeine, it's not tea (Sorry Lance, you should call it an herbal infusion or Tisane ).

The rest of the types of tea depend on how it is processed, where it was grown, and where the tea plants originated. There are two origins, China and Assam, India. Elevation and moisture have a huge impact on the flavor of the tea.

Incidentally, Orange Pekoe is not a flavor of tea, it's a grade of tea. The orange pekeo leaves are the first 3 leaves on the new growth... they're basically the new growth on the bush. If older leaves are used, the flavor is not as good, and it gets more of a vegetable flavor. There doesn't seem to be a very good grading standard with tea, but its something like this:

OP = Orange Pekoe
BOP = Broken Orange Pekoe
FOP = Flowery (or sometimes Fancy) Orange Pekoe
GTOP = Golden Tippy Orange Pekoe
FGTOP, etc.

Generally, the more letters they stack in front of the region name, the better the grade is supposed to be.

- Matt

[sarasmid]

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[sarasmid]

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[finasteride]

lol

Thanks, I've think I learned something new, if you're saying that one of your teas contains tea but no caffeine. I didn't know that it was technologically possible yet to decaffeinate tea completely (and still retain any of the flavor). The Celestial Seasonings factory is not too far from here, and on the tour they describe the process and how much caffeine remains (since they actually sell decaf)... but I can't remember the exact numbers. Are you using a new process?

Anyway, my British family owned a tea estate in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from the late 19th century until the mid 20th, and in the family tradition I've learned a bit about the tea industry and the science behind tea. I think that calling just ANY herbal infusion "tea" is simply a botanical mistake. Of course you're right, most people call water with stuff (usually herbs, but not always) in it "tea", and since word definitions are subject to the tyrrany of the majority, there's no doubt that this confusion in our lexicon will be legitimized by Webster or the OED at some point, if it hasn't already happened. But just because it happens doesn't mean that I have to accept it

- Matt

[enencephoth]

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[vipbunter]

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[enencephoth]

One of these days I'm gonna come out there and kick your ass, John.