Lewis Perin wrote:
> What's your source for this? Did they brew the different kinds of tea
> the same way?

Those numbers came from Stash tea co. and were just an example, I
understand it is a debated topic and I'm really not into caring about
it enough to debate it. If it is bunk so be it, I was just offering
something to show the OP and you. I have found many similar charts and
I have also seen charts with barely no variation... FWIW.

> I would guess that, like most people who know tea, you brew delicate
> ones differently, giving them less heat and/or brewing time. That
> would yield less caffeine per steep.

Which is why I said it. It isn't that I'm suggesting killing it with
high heat or long steeps just that a quick rinse steep and a light
infusion or two would help.

To be true decaf it needs to be 98%+ free, the best you will do with a
discarded 5 minute brew is 65%-75% - Food research International, Vol
29, 325-330 (1996)

I would think a 65%-75% reduction would be pretty damn good to solve
the OP's dilema.

> I'm sorry I can't find a reference for this right now, but I'm sure
> I've read that tea buds - used in Silver Needles - actually are higher
> in caffeine than tea leaves, and that young leaves have more caffeine
> than mature ones. I seem to remember an evolutionary explanation for
> this related to protecting the most valuable parts of the plant from
> insect predation.

Umm, not to be a dick but even in the link you provided you can clearly
see that Silver Needles is lower than the other whites and many of the
greens just as I said... it is an inbetween and a good choice for
someone caring about caffiene as the OP.

As I've said before, and again here, I have no care for technical
analysis of tea. If I drink a tea and it keeps me awake then I don't
drink it before bed. If I drink a tea and it calms me I drink it in the
evenings before bed. In either case the actual caffiene data may not
match with me... but what does it matter? To me it is all very simple,
and requires no pie charts, bar graphs, or analytical equipment. I was
just offering some suggestions, they may work they may not.

- Dominic