We may be at a stage of our life where we don’t want any stimulants but we want to enjoy a good cup of tea. Or we have allergic problems with foods that contain caffeine or theine. Whatever your case, today it is possible to drink tea without theine.
In this article we want to show you the options you have to reduce the concentration of theine in your favorite infusion, or purchase some products that do not include it.
The world of caffeine-free coffee or non-alcoholic beer is much more introduced than that of tea without theine. There are not so many options that we have on the table, although it is getting more and more.
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What exactly is theine/caffeine?
Theine is not a derivative of caffeine, but is a component that today is classified and named in the same way. Keep in mind that, although years ago the concept of Protein and caffeine, today it is considered the same molecule, and in the same way it happens with the guaranine of the guarana fruit.
Caffeine is a psychoactive compound which is obtained only from the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and that we can enjoy today with many variations (white, red, green, black tea, etc.).
It has stimulating action of the nervous system since it acts antagonistically with adenosine receptors. As tea is the second most consumed beverage worldwide (behind water), theine is the most consumed psychoactive substance.
Among its properties is to maintain a prolonged alert status and eliminate drowsiness and tiredness symptoms. However, in some cases we want to enjoy a particular type of drink but without having the effects derived from caffeine. From here arises the concept of tea without theine.
The scale of theine in the different infusions
If we want to do without theine as much as possible, the easiest way is to look for different options that have fewer concentrations. To do this, we leave you the following image that is worth more than 1000 words.
The Rooibos tea is one of the options that has less content in theine, followed by the white tea. These 2 options are a good idea to enjoy a magnificent infusion without altering our state.
Different ways to drink tea without theine
However, is there a way to enjoy, for example, a cup of black tea without so much theine content?
Well, there are several homemade ways to dilute this psychoactive alkaloid, but keep in mind that the idea is to be able to buy this type of tea in specialized stores, where they guarantee that it does not contain caffeine.
Among the homemade forms, you can dilute the tea bag in more water, so the concentrated theine will be diluted in half. However, so will its taste and all the beneficial properties it contains, so it is not a very interesting alternative.
The same goes for the dilution time of tea leaves. The shorter the time you are exposed to hot water, the less concentrated the infusion will be, but the same will happen with its flavor.
Most of the teas without theine that you will find take advantage of the pull and confusion that exists between tea and infusion. Only those who come from the tea plant (Camellia sinensis), are worthy of being called by their name, “tea”. The rest should be called infusions.
Therefore, you will find many infusions that do not contain any theine. Only the rooibos tea it hardly contains tein, and it is because it does not belong to Camellia sinensis but to the species Aspalathus linearis.
The chemical process of desteining
However, just as you can make coffee without caffeine, beer without alcohol or white sugar, following a chemical process you can get rid of this type of substances.
In the case of what concerns us, making a tea without theine is done by the addiction of chemical solvents such as methylene chloride or ethyl acetate. Many of these additives to perform the chemical process are no longer allowed because they can emit carcinogenic substances.
Luckily, there is another process working under pressure on carbon dioxide. The handicap of this process is that some biologically active principles and antioxidants present in the original tea are lost.
