NEWSLETTERS
NEWSLETTER NOV 2005
Welcome to 'The world of tea', the Nothing But Tea's bi-annual newsletter, in which we keep you up to date with all the news from Nothing But Tea and the fast growing tea world.
NEW
Our gift section has been spring cleaned and a whole range of new sets, in new packaging have been added. Your sure to be able to find the perfect gift from the world of tea. We are for Christmas re-packaging our starter sets to make them into gifts, photos will be on the website too.
New teas for the autumn include a plum and cinnamon rooibos. White Christmas our festive spiced white tea (a sample of which is included with this newsletter). A Vietnamese sencha, lemon verbena and Sgt. Peppers Strawberry the rooibos version of our popular Strawberry Pepper black tea. For those fond of Japanese tea we have an outstanding new Superior Matcha in a sublime canister. We cant guarantee a regular supply of these so get one while you can. For those of you who love last years festive blend Yuletide spirit, we have resurected it for the festive season.
If you visit our accessories section you find, tea pots, cups and saucers, personal teabags so you can have your favourite teas on the move, our amazing new magic filter, rock sugar, sugar sticks and even tea sweets!
For those of you who joined our Tea Buffs list watch your emails, we are waiting to see if we can secure a small amount of last years Tongue Of Bird. If your new to Nothing But Tea our Tea Buff List is for first dibs at really special teas we can only secure small amounts of to join send you details to teabuffs@nbtea.co.uk
REVIEWS-NEW SECTION
Contented customers report on some of their favourite teas:
Do you fancy yourself as a tea taster? Would you like to see your comments here or used on our website. See our guide to tea tasting on our website and submit your tea tasting notes to: reviews@nbtea.co.uk
OUR CURRENT BESTSELLERS
- Pai Mu Tan
- Red Lychee Balls
- Georgian Old Lady
- Genmaicha
- Sencha Fukuju
TEA TALK:Caffeine In Tea
British Prime Minister William Gladstone is oft quoted for his description of tea:
“If you are cold, tea will warm you;
If you are too heated, it will cool you;
If you are depressed, it will cheer you;
If you are excited, it will calm you”.William E Gladstone (1809-1898)
These welcome but antagonistic effects are provided by two physiologically active components of tea – caffeine and theanine. In this Newsletter we consider caffeine and decaffeination. Next time we will look at the effects of theanine.
Caffeine – it can be no coincidence that the world’s most popular beverages tea, coffee, cocoa, maté (and Coca Cola) all contain caffeine or its related methylxanthines. The bitter tasting physiologically active compound caffeine occurs at around 3-4% w/w in good quality African teas but at about two thirds of this level in China teas, both green and black. Tea’s refreshing effects on body and mind have been recognised for millennia, though this was only traced to its caffeine component in the nineteenth century. Lung Tung describes tea’s effect thus:
"The first bowl sleekly moistened throat and lips,
The second banished all my loneliness
The third expelled the dullness from my mind,
Sharpening inspiration gained from all the books I've read
The fourth brought forth light perspiration,
Dispersing a lifetime's troubles through my pores”Lu Tung, Chinese Poet, On Drinking Tea (around 780 AD)
At normal levels of intake – compare with Lu Tung’s description - caffeine has positive affects on mood (happiness and contentedness), on mental clarity and on wakefulness. Its negative effects (particularly at higher intakes) can include anxiety, raised blood pressure, sweating, and trembling. Caffeine contributes to the overall taste of tea, and has an incompletely understood interaction with the polyphenols causing ‘creaming down’ of infusions as they cool. This complexing may be the reason for the more gentle effects on the body of tea caffeine compared with coffee derived caffeine.
Decaffeination. Some light sleeping consumers prefer to drink their tea and coffee free from the physiologically active caffeine component. Methods for decaffeination of coffee have existed since the early 1900s utilising the selective solubility of organic solvents for caffeine while leaving behind the soluble solids required for colour and taste. Chloroform was once a favourite and very effective solvent method but its use is now banned. Four decaffeination methods are to be found in tea commerce currently:
Ethyl acetate – ethyl acetate occurs naturally (though at very low levels) in green leaf so it can be considered a natural method as any residue left is indistinguishable from that in normal leaf, though it will be present at a higher level. Ethyl acetate can be hazardous during processing as it is highly inflammable (flash point -4°C). As a caffeine solvent it is not as selective as other methods and removes some colour and flavour as well, thus drinking quality is compromised. However, it is an accepted method for decaffeination throughout the world.
Methylene dichloride – an organic solvent that is very selective for caffeine but has production problems for factory personnel as, if not correctly controlled, it can cause faintness, headache, skin irritation and eventually unconsciousness. It has been associated with causing cancer in mice – but at levels equivalent to a human drinking 12-24 million cups of decaffeinated coffee a day! However, as methylene dichloride is also used as paint stripper, there is some consumer resistance to it. Used as a decaffeinating agent for black tea (in consuming countries) and better still on fermenting leaf during primary production (in Malawi and Zimbabwe) it can produce a very good quality decaffeinated product. Its use is banned in decaffeinating tea for import into USA, though perversely it is allowed in coffee decaffeinating for US use.
Supercritical carbon dioxide – under extreme high pressure CO2 gas acts as a liquid solvent and is quite selective for caffeine. There are no chemical residues and the process, using only CO2 and water is thus completely “natural”. It is accepted for decaffeination throughout the world. The drawback to the method is the huge capital investment and running cost of a high pressure plant.
Water method – decaffeination by water extraction followed by add back of dissolved solids has been successfully employed in coffee decaffeination (the Swiss Water Method) – use of water is seen as the most natural method. Attempts (in India) to copy this method on tea has so far failed to produce even a medium quality product.
At Nothing But Tea we have yet to find a decaffeinated tea that matches our expectations – until we find one we shall continue to supply our Camellia teas as 100% naturally caffeinated – but for caffeine sensitive customers we have a wonderful range of herbal teas and tisanes all guaranteed to be caffeine free.
DID YOU KNOW?
The first commercial tea production in England was launched this year. The tea is being grown on a small scale in Cornwall on the Trgothnan estate near Truro, and is being sold in green and black forms through selected outlets including Fortnum & Mason.
Prices match its rarity at up to £28 per 50g! Our taster who attented the laucn comments “a surprisingly good quality for such a marginal growing area; nice colour and a definate hint of Himalayan character, perhaps more a nuance of Nepal than the impact of Darjeeling, but I would never have believed that this flavour could ever originate in Cornwall” Nothing But Tea wishes Tregothnan every success in this pioneering tea making endeavour.
Note: the first tea to be grown in Engalnd arrived by sea fro China in 1763 as germinated seedlings. Tea bushes became popular as ornimental plants and greenhouse specimens. The first tea bush recorded as flowering in the UK was at Sion, the ancestral seat of the Duke of Northumberland.
Chrissie Greetham
Nothing But Tea 2005
Foot Note
We are always looking for ways to improve our site and our service. If you have any comments or feedback, or anything you would like to see here, please write to chrissie@nbtea.co.uk
