Decaf Suggestions Needed

Hello all -

I was talking to my sister last night, and it seems she's had to give up caffeine. :(

She still likes a nice strong black tea, though, and could use any suggestions that don't have that weird metallic decaf taste. I don't really drink decaf, so I don't have any great suggestions. Anyone here have experience with an actually GOOD decaf black?

Much obliged!

Twinings is the least terrible I have found so far. It does have some aftertaste but it's not as bad as the others I've tried. I'm interested to see what else is suggested though!

Oh, for iced, I do Luzianne.

I try to avoid decaf because of the taste as well, so when I'm in the mood for something like a black tea but shouldn't be drinking caffeine I'll reach for some naturally caffeine-free herbal teas instead.

She could try a tea with chicory in it. I've found chicory gives me a similar vibe to black tea but is caffeine-free. A lot of teas that claim to taste like coffee use chicory.

Or a tea that uses mushrooms as the base might also be a good fit. It would also be naturally caffeine-free and avoid the metallicy decaf taste. I believe Republic of Tea has a mushroom chai, and I'm sure lots of other companies have similar types of teas.

The Holy Grail of all decaf teas just doesn't exist, but Ty-Phoo decaf is probably the closest in flavor to a "real thing" builders tea I have found.

As far as really pleasant decaf options, my grocery store favorites are Tazo Glazed Lemon Loaf and Harney & Sons Vanilla Comoro. Both pleasantly dessert-y, so you forget you're drinking decaf.

I like Stash Decaf Chai Spice if decaf is called for.

>4 gmathis: I have found the one - for me anyway -and it's cheap as well but it's from the UK (although possibly Europe as well?).

Knightsbridge decaff - from the discount store 'Lidl' - which has stores across all of Europe -
80 teabags - £1.20 or something similar and that's it going up a fair bit with our crazy food inflation at the mo.

Fine with/without milk for both me and Mrs Ig - I'm getting through my usual 8+ cups a day of it. A proper British brew.

I've found it better than the decaff - PG Tips/Typhoo/Yorkshire tea - worth trying to track some down or see if you have friends over the pond to source some for you.

>6 Ignatius777: Thanks for the tip! There's a specialty store in Lawrence, Kansas, called Brits that might be a US source...off to go check!

I've been told that almost all the caffeine comes out of tea within the first minute in steeping. To get black tea with very little caffeine, let it steep for 1 minute, then put the tea/tea bag in a new pot or cup. You should still get most of the flavour, but very little caffeine.

I'm not sure how accurate this is, though. You might want to do a bit of research to confirm.

>8 NorthernStar: A little browsing shows a pretty large variety of parameters--anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds reduces caffeine by 30 to 50 percent. So popular wisdom (if there is such a thing) confirms it.

There's also some support for cold-steeping your tea in the fridge to lower the caffeine level.

I drink decaf Red Rose when I want tea at night. I don't notice much of a difference in the taste but I do add milk to my tea so that might affect it.

I also keep decaf Chai around because I like it after dinner and am trying to cut back on evening caffeine.