Hello fellow researchers.  I'm sitting here at my day job
(unfortunately, I am not a full-time researcher) having my afternoon
cup of tea.  I want a little caffeine, but not too much.  It's your
basic Lipton black teabag.

I was wondering, which is the best way to reduce my caffeine intake?

1) Let it steep as long as I'd like, but drink a half a cup.

2) Drink a full cup, but let it steep for a very short time.

3) Something else.

Thanks,
Googlenut

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 09 Apr 2003 15:09 PDT

In order to give you advice that might result in reduced caffeine
intake, we'd have to know what your normal practice is. Which one do
you normally do?

tutuzdad-ga

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Clarification of Question by googlenut-ga on 09 Apr 2003 15:27 PDT

Hi tutuzdad,

Thanks for asking.

Right now I let it steep for a while and drink a half a cup.  What I
don't know is if this is really helping.  It does taste better this
way. But does less water result in less caffeine or do I still get the
full dose because I keep that teabag in for a long time?

I hope that makes it clearer.  Let me know if it doesn't.

Googlenut

Hi Googlenut,

It appears that you can cut the caffeine by at least half if you steep
the tea bag for a shorter time.  (I can't say whether you'll enjoy the
taste of the tea if you do this, but at least you won't lose much
sleep over it.  ;-)  )

The following pages indicate that reducing the time that you steep a
tea bag will reduce the amount of caffeine released.  The first page
states: "Brewing a tea bag for one minute, versus three minutes, can
cut the amount of caffeine in half."  The second says: "A tea bag
steeped one minute releases half the caffeine as one steeped for five
minutes."  To be on the safe side, you might want to steep the tea for
one minute if you normally steep it for five minutes, and somewhat
less (perhaps for 30 seconds?) if three minutes is more typical.

"The Power of Caffeine: Hit or Myth?"
eDiets|UK & Ireland
http://www.edietsuk.co.uk/news/article.cfm/article_id,1656

"Creating a Healthy Womb Environment" [section entitled "Cut Back on
Caffeine"]
AskDrSears.com
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/1/T011800.asp#T011805

A third page deals mainly with infusions of tea: "The shorter the
brewing time, the less caffeine ends up in the cup.  A four-minute
infusion of black tea will produce 40 to 100 milligrams of caffeine, a
three-minute infusion only about 20 to 40 milligrams."  However, this
page also notes that for "comparable amounts and brewing times", a tea
bag will release nearly twice as much caffeine as full-leaf tea.  The
reference to "comparable brewing times" suggests that, both for tea
bags and for infusions of full-leaf tea, a shorter brewing time means
less caffeine in the cup.

"Caffeine and Tea: Five Considerations"
The Republic of Tea
http://www.republicoftea.com/cgi-bin/sgdynamo.exe?HTNAME=_qa_caffeine.htm

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


I used the following search terms, in various combinations, on Google:

"tea bag"
steep
"brewing time"
"less caffeine"
"half the caffeine"

[I tried other search terms as well, but the terms that I have
mentioned resulted in the pages I have cited.]

Thanks justaskscott,

I guess I'll have steep for a shorter time.  Also, based on the last
reference, perhaps I should switch to Oolong or Green tea.

Googlenut