You’ve probably heard about all the hype about green tea and the benefits of the special drink. The run-of-the-mill- grocery store sells many types of green tea bags that just lay on the shelves. For some people, it just matters to them whether there is caffeine in the green tea or if there is no caffeine in the green tea. Most people want the benefit of green tea without the caffeine. Most people will probably opt for the green tea without any caffeine because of the high-strung effects that exist from caffeine. Many people do not realize that the process to remove the caffeine actually takes away from the health benefits that lie in green tea. In order to understand, you must learn about the process of how caffeine is removed from green tea.

The process can be similar to an apple. After an apple is sliced to reveal the fruity flesh it begins to slowly turn brown. This is from the oxygen that hits the flesh of the fruit. In normal black tea, the leaves are open to oxygen, and they are fermented like that on purpose. In green tea, the leaves are processed immediately after they are picked to prevent oxidization. The process the leaves go through is similar to the following: steaming, rolling, drying, and finishing. Removing the caffeine would make the green tea sterile of its benefits.

But, that does not mean that you cannot have the benefits of green tea without caffeine. The caffeine isn’t even that potent in green tea, less than half of what is in normal coffee. If you insist on having a caffeine-free cup of green tea, you should begin with the highest quality of leaves from the first harvest since most of the caffeine is in the first infusion. You can get a nice cup of caffeine free coffee by brewing the infusion, dumping it, and rebrewing it. The second infusion, though, will not have as much aroma or as much taste as the first. Your green tea diet shouldn't suffer because of caffeine.