good loose leaf decaf Assam and Darjeeling by mail?
February 10, 2023 12:51 PM Subscribe
I've been enjoying Harney Tea's decaf Assam and Darjeeling, but they've been sold out of the Assam for months and months, and at the moment the Darjeeling's all sold out as well. Can you recommend good alternative mail-order suppliers of decaf loose leaf tea? Thanks!
This is not a direct answer, but there is a relatively new process out that allows for decafination at the point of brewing, not processing. Decafino is primarily geared towards coffee, but it works just fine on tea. Far superior flavor retention than pre-brewing decaffeination process.
I don't rely on them for waste reasons, but they're nice to have on hand for times when I can't source good decaf coffee.
posted by furnace.heart at 1:37 PM on February 10, 2023
I don't rely on them for waste reasons, but they're nice to have on hand for times when I can't source good decaf coffee.
posted by furnace.heart at 1:37 PM on February 10, 2023
huh! furnace.heart does that thing actually work? I guess it would make my oolong milk tea habit even more expensive, but it also would make me very happy to be able to drink it into the afternoon ...
posted by librarina at 1:55 PM on February 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by librarina at 1:55 PM on February 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Murchie's teas are excellent, and they have a number of quality levels on Assams that I've enjoyed exploring. This one also sells in the grocery store (I'm assuming you're in the US?), but Tao of Tea makes an excellent Malty Assam that is my go-to morning brew, and I seem to recall their Darjeeling is decent. I also really like their Golden Tip Assam. I don't drink decaf much, but I have seen them both offer decaf versions of their best sellers.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 1:59 PM on February 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by kitten kaboodle at 1:59 PM on February 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh man, I went on a tea rabbithole dive and...a lot of my go-tos are not offering decaf versions of much of their lines anymore. It looks like they've had lots of things go out of stock or not available at this time; this seems to be consistent across a lot of the teas I buy (it took me months and months before I could get TofT's rose petal black, for example) and I guess is yet another supply chain problem. Since I rarely buy decaf, I hadn't noticed how scarce it's become. Sorry about that! Maybe if furnace.heart's decaf-making bags work, these others will substitute till yours comes back.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:54 PM on February 10, 2023
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:54 PM on February 10, 2023
I don't have a way to 100% verify they are working, or exactly how well it is working in terms of caffeine reduction, because caffeine detection devices are expensive (even the cool new portable ones), so my reporting is anecdotal, but it is safe to say it is not entirely placebo. I was highly suspect of this company and their promises when they launched.
I have the kind of tolerance of 'any caffeine after 2:00PM = extreme difficulty sleeping.' Using the little bags as directed does not prevent me from feeling the effects of caffeine directly before going to sleep; I can crush 12oz of coffee prepared with them and have no trouble sleeping at all. If you are more sensitive, or have to FOR SURE avoid caffeine, there's no way to necessarily validate that they're removing 'enough' caffeine for you.
The flavor impact is nearly nothing, other than a reduction in caffeine's inherent bitterness, so it actually slightly sweetens the perceived flavor of the drink (YMMV; I worked as a coffee roaster in the Before Times for a decade+ and can taste the difference). I think the taste difference is more pronounced in coffee than tea, and have used the bags on both dranks.
posted by furnace.heart at 3:02 PM on February 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
I have the kind of tolerance of 'any caffeine after 2:00PM = extreme difficulty sleeping.' Using the little bags as directed does not prevent me from feeling the effects of caffeine directly before going to sleep; I can crush 12oz of coffee prepared with them and have no trouble sleeping at all. If you are more sensitive, or have to FOR SURE avoid caffeine, there's no way to necessarily validate that they're removing 'enough' caffeine for you.
The flavor impact is nearly nothing, other than a reduction in caffeine's inherent bitterness, so it actually slightly sweetens the perceived flavor of the drink (YMMV; I worked as a coffee roaster in the Before Times for a decade+ and can taste the difference). I think the taste difference is more pronounced in coffee than tea, and have used the bags on both dranks.
posted by furnace.heart at 3:02 PM on February 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm a big fan of the New Mexico Tea Company (even though I don't live in that area), and they have a number of decaf teas and do mail order.
posted by gudrun at 3:34 PM on February 10, 2023
posted by gudrun at 3:34 PM on February 10, 2023
I order from The Tea Table for my loose leaf decaf tea. I tried a local place, but the quality of the Tea Table tea is superior. I get the Decaf Earl Grey - but I see that they have Decaf Assam in stock and Decaf Darjeeling (but low stock).
posted by skunk pig at 7:04 PM on February 10, 2023
posted by skunk pig at 7:04 PM on February 10, 2023
I've been a member of Tea Runners for awhile now. They're pretty decent I think.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 7:15 PM on February 10, 2023
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 7:15 PM on February 10, 2023
Upton Tea is excellent, do not hesitate to order from them.
posted by mollweide at 5:09 PM on February 11, 2023
posted by mollweide at 5:09 PM on February 11, 2023
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sammyo at 1:25 PM on February 10, 2023 [4 favorites]