Decaf, explained
Two different things get sold as "decaf", and the difference matters more than the word does.
Naturally caffeine-free is not the same as decaffeinated
Rooibos, honeybush, chamomile, peppermint, hibiscus and fruit infusions are not tea. They do not come from Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, and they never contained caffeine. Nothing has to be taken out of them, because there was never anything in them to take.
Decaffeinated tea is different. It started as real tea leaf — black, green, white or oolong — and the caffeine was removed by a process. That process leaves a small amount behind. It is not zero.
Most shops file both under one "decaf" heading and let you assume. We label which route applies to every tea we sell.
How is caffeine removed from tea?
There are three routes in commercial use, and they are not equivalent.
Water process
The leaf is soaked so that caffeine and flavour compounds both dissolve out. The liquid is passed through carbon filters that catch caffeine molecules and let the flavour compounds through, and the flavour is then returned to the leaf. No chemical solvent touches the tea at any stage. It is the slowest and most expensive of the three.
Carbon dioxide process
Carbon dioxide is held under pressure until it behaves as a solvent, and in that state it bonds selectively to caffeine molecules while largely ignoring the larger flavour compounds. The CO2 is drawn off and the caffeine separated from it. Also solvent-free in the ordinary sense of the word, and generally kinder to flavour than water processing.
Chemical solvents — ethyl acetate and methylene chloride
The leaf is treated directly with a solvent that binds to caffeine, and the solvent is then evaporated off. It is faster and considerably cheaper than either of the above, which is why a large share of supermarket decaf uses it.
Ethyl acetate occurs naturally in fruit, so tea decaffeinated with it is sometimes described as "naturally decaffeinated". The ethyl acetate used industrially is not fruit-derived. The phrase is doing work.
We do not stock tea decaffeinated with either solvent. Not because we are making a claim about them, but because the alternatives exist, we can tell you which one was used, and a brand whose entire catalogue is decaf should be able to answer the question.
How much caffeine is left in decaffeinated tea?
Some. The honest answer is that it depends on the leaf, the process, how much you use and how long you steep it, so treat these as typical rather than exact:
- Herbal, rooibos and fruit infusions — none. This is the one figure that is flatly zero, and it is zero by definition rather than by processing.
- Decaffeinated black or green tea — a small residue. Commonly cited at a few milligrams a cup, against roughly 40–50 mg for ordinary black tea and around 95 mg for a cup of coffee.
There is no US regulation setting a maximum caffeine level for tea labelled decaffeinated. The 97% figure people quote is the standard for decaffeinated coffee. If a residue of a few milligrams matters to you — and for some people it does — the only way to reach zero is a tea that never contained caffeine in the first place.
What we sell
Every tea in this shop is caffeine-free. Not a filter, not a section — the whole catalogue. Most of it is naturally caffeine-free rather than decaffeinated, and each product page says which.
We also publish the ingredients, because "caffeine-free" and "suitable for you" are different questions and only you can answer the second one.
What to ask before you buy decaf anywhere else
Four questions. Any shop that knows its supply chain can answer all four, and most cannot answer the first.
- Was it decaffeinated, or was it never caffeinated? If the answer is vague, it is almost certainly decaffeinated tea leaf.
- Which process? Water, CO2, or a solvent. "Natural" is not an answer to this question.
- Does "naturally decaffeinated" mean ethyl acetate? Often it does.
- What is actually in the blend? A caffeine-free blend can still contain herbs you are avoiding for other reasons.