Mike Petro > writes:

> [...]
> It is an old trick with black (aka red) tea that if you want to
> decaffeinate it substantially all you need to do is steep it for 30
> seconds and throw away the first infusion. The "washing tea" may not
> be long enough to saturate the leaf totally but it is bound to have an
> effect.

The 30 second trick is indeed famous. It's been mentioned countless
times, but I don't recall ever seeing good numbers on what it achieves.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html