To Tea or Not to Tea

September 6, 2009 3:03 PM

I'm anxiety-prone and so have eschewed caffeine for a long time. However, I miss drinking tea for the experience of it (not the stimulation). How can I re-acclimatize myself, and should I?

Preamble: Speaking broadly, I am fairly predisposed towards anxiety in a non-specific sense -- maybe more like hypertension, with a constant underlying echo of quickened pulse, shortness of breath, etc.; kind of like the opposite of mindfulness.

In any case, I am working on that on a range of fronts.

I noticed some time ago that having tea (and, god forbid, the rare coffee) exacerbated these symptoms, so I stopped my tea-drinking habits (as part of a more general elimination-diet) and noticed it took some of the edge off.

Recently I've been missing the experience of having tea, though, for the calming aspect of the experience, the aroma, flavor, etc. I've tried on isolated occasions to have a cup, but it makes me instantly crazy (psychosomatic?). I was thinking this has something to do with the consistent lack of exposure to caffeine.

So I tried fooling around with non-caffeinated "herbal" teas, but these are almost all uniformly disgusting, hippie stews. Is there a way I could re-introduce tea (let's say sticking to green, and not black, tea) into my diet, gradually building to a tolerance where I can just enjoy it? I would assume this would involve steeping the tea leaves very little in ever-increasing gradations.

Is this even a good idea, though, given the anxiety + caffeine issue? I sort of feel that the tranquilizing aspect of enjoying a cup of tea might play a mitigating, meditative role in my general level of tension, so I would break even vis-a-vis any caffeine intake. But maybe not. OMIGOD GETTING ANXIOUS JUST THINKING ABOUT IT.

posted by softsantear to health & fitness (30 comments total)

Definitely try green tea. Start with a small cup, and don't steep it for very long.

Also consider very short espresso shots. A normal double espresso typically has less caffeine than an ordinary cup of drip coffee. A shorter shot will have more flavor and less caffeine.
posted by b1tr0t at 3:13 PM on September 6

Seconding the green tea, if that is to your liking. I like coffee and tea, but I steer wide and clear of caffeine. Green tea has caffeine in it but has never affected me like other caffeinated products.
posted by P.o.B. at 3:19 PM on September 6

Depending on what you like, there may be decaf versions.

So I tried fooling around with non-caffeinated "herbal" teas, but these are almost all uniformly disgusting, hippie stews.

Hmm. Might I suggest that perhaps there are some kinds of tisanes you haven't tried that are not "hippie stews"? Just to pick some random examples that are more tea-like, how about barley tea, or mate (which does contain a little caffeine)?
posted by advil at 3:23 PM on September 6

b1tr0t: Espresso? Really? I am not brave enough for coffee beverages.
advil: Mugicha is good, but I think of it as something drunk cold. I was thinking of hot beverages
posted by softsantear at 3:32 PM on September 6

If you want something fresh and not "stew"-like, you can make one-ingredient teas from fresh herbs such as sage or mint. Simply steep the leaves in hot water. You can do the same with ginger root, it makes a wonderful tea.

Also, look for jasmine tea. Rather than being a stimulant, it's considered to be soothing, even mildly sedating.
posted by hermitosis at 3:32 PM on September 6

What about decaf teas?
posted by you're a kitty! at 3:33 PM on September 6

My wife really likes Red Bush (Roibus) tea when she wants tea taste and ritual without the caffiene hit. Apparently it's much better tasting than most decafs.
posted by rodgerd at 3:33 PM on September 6 [2 favorites]

When I worked at a cafe, we would frequently make 'decaf' versions of tea by letting the tea bags brew for 30-45 seconds in a small amount of hot water, and then discarding that water and brewing the tea as usual. Most of the caffeine is taken away in the first brewing, and you're left with an identical-tasting cup of tea with much less caffeine than usual.
posted by logic vs love at 3:38 PM on September 6

I drink a ton of tea. I find that when I have black tea, adding milk mediates the effects of the stimulants, and makes for a more calm yet elevating experience.

Green tea by itself often makes my throat just feel too dry, or makes me feel hypoglycemic. Same with drip coffee.

As an aside, there are some good herbal teas. Chamomile, chrysanthemum, and jasmine are worthwhile if you don't want caffeine. There are also some pretty good quality decaffeinated teas if you know where to look - I recommend Upton Tea and SpecialTeas.
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 3:39 PM on September 6

I think herbal tea sucks the proverbial bag, too. But Vanilla Rooibus tea is pretty yummers. Rooibus tastes a lot like real tea, works well with milk, and contains no caffeine.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 3:39 PM on September 6

Seconding Red Rose tea- my mom has been drinking it for twenty years for the same reason (liking tea, but not caffeine due to anxiety and sleep problems). For what it's worth, green tea affects me pretty strongly, and depending on your brand it can have a lot of caffeine (that Bigelow stuff jacked me up recently).

I was going to tell you that another option would be to take the tea of your choice and just double steep it, thinking that most caffeine is absorbed in the first 30 seconds of steeping. But then I read this. So never mind.
posted by farishta at 3:49 PM on September 6

nthing Rooibos tea. Republic of Tea's Good Hope Vanilla is my go-to tea, and I'm a snooty loose-leaf tea-swiller, most of the time. It's delicious and fragrant and has the tannin kick of a black tea while staying herbal.

Other herbal teas that don't taste like hippy-laced death brews include straight up peppermint, and rosehip tea.

I go through phases of caffeine dependency, and often try to go cold turkey to reset myself. When I decide it's okay to have caffeine again, I actually start out with eating some dark chocolate.
posted by Mizu at 3:54 PM on September 6

Yeah, "washing" the leaves in hot water just makes them taste disgusting. You do lose some of the caffeine but you lose more of the flavor and almost none of the harshness. Get a "proper" high-quality decaf tea and it's very drinkable, although you may want to use a little bit more leaves than you would with normal tea.
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 3:55 PM on September 6

One more thing - green tea isn't necessarily lower in caffeine than black. If anything, you might want to try a pu-erh tea. They are left to ferment / oxidize for a while, and this can actually reduce caffeine content. Pu-erh is also a very unique and pleasant drinking experience. It's thick and smooth, with an earthy flavor just slightly reminiscent of black tea. It baffles me that it isn't more well-known. It's traditionally drank plain, but I realy enjoy it with a little milk just like a black tea.
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 4:00 PM on September 6

If you've got a store near you which sells loose-leaf tea, you can go in and try a bunch of their herbal and decaf teas, to see what you like. For instance, I love this cinnamon apricot tisane from the Tea Zone, in Cambridge MA. (You can order online there if you like...)

There's a lot of confusion about how much caffeine comes out with different brewing of different teas -- for instance, I believed the 30-second-wash thing until just now! But it may be that white tea will release less caffeine than green tea, and definitely less than black. So if you're going to look around for a caffeinated tea that doesn't make you crazy, you might want to throw some white in the mix.

Good luck!
posted by wyzewoman at 4:05 PM on September 6

I generally find herbal teas wan and watery, if that's what you mean by disgusting hippie stew. But have you tried Good Earth Original Sweet & Spicy Herbal Tea? There's nothing wan about it. OMG so good.
posted by granted at 4:24 PM on September 6

I am very sensitive to caffeine. I don't suffer from anxiety, but it does make me clench my jaw (leading to splitting headaches), gives me nasty acid reflux, and keeps me up at night. This is from just one cup of coffee per day, believe it or not.

But I love coffee and tea, and like you, hate the "hippy stews" that compromise typical herbal teas.

Things I've learned:

1. Black tea has similar levels of caffeine, but the tannins inhibit absorption, making more of a gentle curve in terms of how it is absorbed by your body, rather than a rush followed by a crash. I find even black tea does not give me the same extent of jitters and other symptoms that coffee does.

2. I agree with everyone that rooibos is a great herbal tea, unlike your typical chamomile pepperminty crap. Vanilla rooibos or a chai blend made with rooibos, served with a touch of milk and sugar, is quite the treat.

Personally, to answer the question actually asked, I don't think it's a good idea to drink caffeine when you know it negatively impacts you. I know I'm happier when I'm not drinking caffeine. But I'm re-kicking the caffeine habit right now - once or twice a year I seem to fall back into drinking regular coffee, which I love. So it's easier said than done.
posted by misskaz at 4:36 PM on September 6

granted - did you notice the "artificial flavor" listed in the ingredients? I was quite taken aback when I saw that recently. Glad to see they have an "all-natural" version; too bad none of the stores around here seem to carry it.

(Artificial flavors in Good Earth tea? Harrumph! What is the world coming to?)

And nthing the rooibos recommendation. It's my default post-6pm beverage these days.
posted by Lexica at 4:51 PM on September 6

Too add on to what Hermitosis said, I think Jasmine Green Tea might be right up your alley. I'm caff sensitive as well and that treats me just right.
posted by josher71 at 5:06 PM on September 6

Consider trying a roasted barley drink called Pero by brand name. I used to drink it when I was trying to wean myself from coffee.

There's also a lot of types of decaf coffee out there. I like the "water process" stuff.
posted by effluvia at 5:19 PM on September 6

Surprised that no one has mentioned white tea -- green is considerably milder (less caffeine, too) than black, white tea is considerably milder than green. It's still quite tasty, subtle, understated, delicate maybe (?), it's not going to kick you around like black tea does. And oolong teas I think falls in between green teas and white, not fermented quite as long as green tea but longer than white tea....

Um, nope -- I had that wrong; oolong is between green and black tea. See this tea processing flowchart to see how each is prepared; they all of them come from the exact same leaf, it's in how they are processed after picking that makes the difference. (Flowchart is linked from Planet Tea, a pretty cool site.)

I ought to have known that oolong had more caffeine than green tea; like you, I surely do love caffeine, like you, it can send me squealing like a kid at a birthday party, screeching and jumping up and down. I've quit caffeine more than once, then come back to play with it, paying the price but enjoying the buzz. It's only been in the past six or so years that I've learned about tea (other than black, which I mostly didn't and don't like, other than iced tea in some tex-mex dive) and nowadays I've got a nice tea pot, usually got a fairly nice selection of fresh teas, etc and etc. (I like something and I get all obsessed about it and shit, surprised I don't have sixteen tea pots. I'm a mess.)

Oolong is my fave, for sure -- one time a grocery store here in town had a Vietnamese oolong that was almost orange, it was beautiful and it tasted so good; I've looked all over and cannot find it anywhere, too bad for me. But you can get a few oolong teas and a few white teas at any decent grocery store. (Hint: You're not going to find white tea or oolong in your basic grocery store, in fact you're not going to find any tea you really want. IMO; YMMV)

(Aside: If you like tea as I do, you'll maybe start to take some loose tea with you when you travel, which makes for a very interesting time if one of these mopes opens your luggage; I'm like "No, no -- it's tea!" and they're all eyeballing me and whatnot, my long hair with the ends dyed bright blue adds to it, considerably. Fun.)

I drink some coffee but not much, though here in this past week I've been having a cup upon awakening, and I do make coffee strong, cowboy coffee -- heat two cups of water close to boil in a glass measuring cup (though of course if it was real cowboy coffee I'd make it in a boot or something, or maybe cup my hands and let it brew there), toss a pretty big scoop of fine-ground coffee in there, let it sit maybe five minutes, pour it through a strainer, which catches most of the grounds but allows the crema through -- this is a time of joy. Or something. Peace on earth, goodwill toward men. Etc. Amazingly, I've not prepared more than one cup a day (large cups, obviously, big as your fist), somehow I've gotten my satisfaction from that and not gone back to the well all dang day. I do drink white tea though, and/or sometimes oolong or green, through the day, and sometimes ( !! ) into the night.

Long answer to a short question -- sorry! Get thee to a nice grocery and get you some white tea and give it a whirl, see if it sends you twirling or if maybe you can enjoy it; I hope that you can.

Have fun!
posted by dancestoblue at 6:35 PM on September 6 [1 favorite]

Another option for a tisane that isn't the stereotypical hippie herbal thing is ginger. Simmer some thin ginger root slices in water, add a bit of lemon juice and/or honey and/or hot water to thin it out if it's too strong.

At high intensity this is of course a great restorative if you have a cold or sore throat. At a lower strength it does exactly what tea does for me -- the calming, comforting, meditative, moment-out-of-the-day experience that it sounds like you're looking to get back.
posted by sesquipedalia at 7:03 PM on September 6

Yet another recommendation for rooibos. The vanilla is nice, but so it the standard non-vanilla, no flavour-added kind. I dislike herbal teas and generally stick to black teas exclusively, but red tea (rooibos) is excellent and a very nice replacement for my best black teas.

I also find it pretty easy to get decaf earl grey or english breakfast or any other popular black tea. I like a cup before bed, so finding decaf was a priority. I don't notice the difference in taste.
posted by Hildegarde at 8:24 PM on September 6

Rooibos,

and if you do have tea, if you don't mind the taste - steep it longer. The tannins (which come out with longer steeping) have a calmative quality.
posted by Elysum at 11:47 PM on September 6

I'm drinking a few pots of tea every day for the last 7 years. I tried many different types of tea. From the point of view of caffeine content, green and white tea don't necessarily have less of it than black tea. Despite this, I find that green tea creates much less of a 'buzz' than black tea, in particular good chinese greens (like a good long jing, bi luo chan, and similar teas) create much less of a buzz than japanese greens. Going further, white teas have less of a buzz than even the mild greens I mentioned. For this reason I'd recommend starting with a bit of white tea (in particular Yinzhen silver needles and Pai Mutan (white peony).

I have to disagree about pu-erh. IME it has as much of a kick or more vs. black tea. By the way, good chinese blacks like Sichuan Gongfu or Keemun or Golden Yunnan are much milder (and tastier) than indian/ceylon blacks. Darjeeling is even milder, it's usually grouped with blacks but in all truth it's in a category of it's own, between blacks and greens. Oolongs range very widely between almost pu-erh-like aged oolongs to very green oolongs that taste very close to some greens.

Then there's also Houji-cha - a roasted japanese green that has next to no caffeine, but unfotunately I don't care for its taste, but you might!

There's also a trick (as someone mentioned above) where you brew your tea for a minute or so then pour off and steep the leaves for a 2nd time. There's no general agreement in tea community as to how much caffeine you will get rid of with this method, but generally I've seen figures like 50% to 65%. It's generally agreed that claims that go above ~65% after 1 minute steep are not true.

Finally, you have to get good teas, and a good pot. With black tea, you can get by with cheap ceylon or indian, add some milk and it wont' be too bad, but with greens and whites, it's either a good tea or it's barely drinkable (to my taste, anyway). I routinely recommend www.teaspring.com, www.houdeasianart.com for chinese teas and www.o-cha.com for japanese teas.
posted by rainy at 12:37 AM on September 7

(For a pot, DO NOT get a cast iron tetsubin. Get glass or porcelain or at least ceramic.)
posted by rainy at 12:40 AM on September 7

Where I come from, hippie stew is a hot tub full of hippies....Anyway have you tried out Teeccino or Cafix. Also as mentioned above most caffeine teas also have a decaf option.
posted by psycho-alchemy at 1:44 AM on September 7

Seconding Teeccino! It has that heft and body to it that tea doesn't and that body is what I really miss when I'm not drinking coffee. With milk, it has really done the trick for me as a no caffeine coffee stand in. Plus, you brew it like coffee, so you get all of the ritual of preparing coffee.
posted by munichmaiden at 4:58 AM on September 7

This has caffeine but is a very relaxing sort of stimulating. Choice Organic Green Moroccan Mint Tea. Hmm, their site mentions a "Twig Tea" which may be more suitable than herbal teas (which I find to be pretty universally crap myself):

Twig Tea
This is a traditional Japanese beverage made from twigs and stems of the tea plant. We choose organic twigs that are carefully aged and toasted to yield a mild, woody flavor.
[Naturally low in caffeine]

posted by vsync at 2:11 PM on September 7

No advice on the tea, but as someone who quit caffeine for the same reasons, I can say that my occasional attempts to sample it again have not gone well.

I decided somewhere along the way I liked the taste of cafe mochas, but I was always able to find a decaf version somewhere. One day, I went to a different local coffee shop and the barista informed me that they didn't serve decaf, but that espresso contained less caffeine than regular coffee. Essentially, this quote from above is what he told me:

A normal double espresso typically has less caffeine than an ordinary cup of drip coffee.

I decided to give it a shot, and half an hour later at work, I found myself gripping my mouse with tight, white fingers, struggling to concentrate and gasping for breath as I tried to still a racing heart. Damn it. I also tend to get really chatty and talk really fast, which just isn't me.

As an aside, I don't know if it's Starbucks playing an evil trick on me or just the sugar content, but sometimes the "decaf" cafe mochas at Starbucks give me the same effects. I vote for evil trick.

It could all just be in my head, but you never know with anxiety. Good luck with the tea!
posted by bristolcat at 7:23 PM on September 8