Green Tea

[Dude]

Hi all,
I'm 36 years young and recently (over the last 6 months) became much more interested in taking care of my health. I've established a regular aerobic exercise program and am paying much more attention to the foods that I put into my body.

I've read about the benefits of drinking green tea, and would like to add it to my daily diet. However, my body is extremely sensitive to caffeine (I don't drink coffee or sodas anymore), so the tea must be the decaf variety.

Anyway, I'm looking for advice from any green tea drinkers. Do you use the teabag kind or the loose leaf kind? What brand? If loose leaf, why do you like it better? Anybody know where I can purchase high quality decaf loose leaf green tea on the internet? Oh yea, must be decaffeinated using the natural "effervescense" method. Any other tips? Whew, there's alot to this tea stuff Thanks for the help

[bpp]

Originally Posted by Dude

Anyway, I'm looking for advice from any green tea drinkers. Do you use the teabag kind or the loose leaf kind? What brand? If loose leaf, why do you like it better?

I usually get whatever's cheapest at the store... I kind of like cloudy, particulate-laden tea, so prefer loose leaf, but am not too picky.

Anybody know where I can purchase high quality decaf loose leaf green tea on the internet? Oh yea, must be decaffeinated using the natural "effervescense" method. Any other tips? Whew, there's alot to this tea stuff Thanks for the help

I'd never heard of decaf green tea before, but googling "decaf loose leaf green tea" brings up some possibilities (you'll have to check the processes used):

http://www.englishteastore.com/1mt-sgd.html
http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Decaf-.../dp/B00081KYRA
http://www.herbco.com/bulk_teas/bulk-teas-q-leaf.php
.
.
.

[Alex]

I like the YOGI teas. They come in bags and taste good. Lots of de-caf options as well.
http://www.yogitea.com/

[Outtahere]

Dude I have the same caffeine problem and stay away from green tea. I haven't found one yet that doesn't have some small amount of caffeine even though the lable will say decaffeinated. I tried the One A Day vitamins for weightloss, the lable boasted about containing green tea goodies what it didn't list was the caffeine, I later found that on their website after taking it for several days and feeling horrible. I'd be very interested in what you find for decaf products.

[Doby]

I think green tea from teabags have more caffeine than loose leaf green tea. I drink teabag tea to save time. If you're in it for the health, have you considered white tea? It has more health benefits than green tea and it has no caffeine. I drink both green and white for the health benefits. I prefer the taste of white tea because I find it less bitter than green tea. Except for matcha, the powdered green tea that dissolves when you mix it with hot water. That one's my favorite.

[Toejam]

I have never tried de-caffeinated green tea.

My favorite green tea is "genmaicha", which has a fresh, roasted, nutty flavor. I like to buy it loose-leaf, although you can also get it in tea-bag form. (Loose leaf tastes better and probably has more health benefits, though.) According to a website I found, www.denstea.com, this particular green tea has less caffeine than other (Japanese) green teas: 5 to 15 mg per 100 ml liquid. If you pull up the site, there is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section that discusses the different types of tea, the health benefits of green tea, differences in how it is processed, Chinese vs. Japanese green tea, etc.

I have never had to order this tea on-line because I live in a large West Coast city that has many Asian food markets . The elderly neighbor lady across the street is from Japan, and she keeps her loose-leaf green tea in an airtight metal cannister in the refrigerator to maintain freshness; now I do the same. I used to drink nothing but American herbal or fruit flavored teas. But over the last 10 years or so, I have been drinking more and more of this genmaicha. It just seems to go well with whatever I eat.

[Dude]

Thanks all for the replies. I'm going to check out YOGI and white tea and densteas.com. I'll let ya know what I decide on.

[Khan]

There are also green tea pills in the drug store.

[VoyT]

Celestial Seasonings makes several kinds of green tea, including a decaf, which I buy for DH. I''ve had some, and it's pretty good.
Do you live anywhere near an Asian market, or any kind of international market? You might be able to find loose-leaf decaf teas there...

[Dog]

I also like Yogi Teas, although they are a bit more $$$. My favorite is the Bed Time Tea....works every time.

[perinova]

I used to buy tea bags from several varieties from tenren.com = tentea.com. Not too expensive and allowed me to learn about different kinds of teas.
I also recall a study from Consumer report wherer the best Green Tea bags were actually the Lipton's.

I personally would try some non decaf. versions if you didn't already. I am not sure there is much caffein in Green Tea compared with sodas and coffee. (I only had a problem once in a Japanese restaurant drinking in the eve. 3 or 4 cups of Sencha. That night was weird I couldn't sleep but had a very clear mind! Yep... all night. Not sure if I can attribute this to the tea though since among other things I was on an overseas trip. )

[perinova]

I might have mixed up Salada and Lipton I am not sure any more. Anyway both in my opinion give good gree tea, even in the decaf version; which I always drink in the evening.
I always buy teas on sale out of what I consider good brands - GoodEarth, Twinnings, ....
We personally avoid Bigelow and Celestial-Seasoning. Which we don't like.

[Dude]

I'm currently trying Salada 100% Green Tea Decaf and Yogi Tea Simply Decaf Green Tea (organic). Both taste fine to me but I think I like the Yogi a bit better.

[Khan]

Tazo makes great tea, green or black .

[Dude]

Originally Posted by Dude

I'm currently trying Salada 100% Green Tea Decaf and Yogi Tea Simply Decaf Green Tea (organic). Both taste fine to me but I think I like the Yogi a bit better.

In addition to these two decaf teas, I've also tried Choice Organic Premium Japanese Green Tea (not decaf). All three are in teabags. What I found interesting is that both decaf teas produce a cup of tea that is not green in color at all, it is more like an amber-orange color. While the Choice (non-decaf) tea produces a yellow-green cup of tea, which is what I would expect. Must be something about the decaffeination process I guess.