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Personally I don't know a ton about tea but I've always found that small tea shops (my fiance is a total tea addict) are a great place to go if you want to find a new tea and have specific requirements. A lot of time they will give you a small taste and they are always super knowledgable about their products. And you are supporting a small business. Hope this helps!

N.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

I am having real tea issues lately. I tend to eat late and try to have some ginger-peach tea after to help my digestion. Otherwise the next day my stomache erupts in a loud chorus at all sorts of times (usually meetings). Decaf is okay, because I can still get some sleep. But I didn't plan ahead and bought a caffeinated version of my favorite. It's a bit hard on me at night.

I'm going to order Bentley's from Amazon. Two cup of that seems to be very effective at cutting the noise the next day.

I really like "Mighty Leaf" brand tea, and they carry a lot of no-caffeine tisanes.

There's a way to decaffeinate your own tea. Something about brewing it briefly and then pouring out the water and brewing it again. I'll look it up.

Argo Tea has a huge selection of high quality loose-leaf teas.

One full-flavored decaf tea that I like is Rooibos. This is also a nice tea if you want to make a non-coffee, non-caffeinated, non-dairy (soymilk) latte. It's essentially a chai tea latte.

OK, here's what seems to be a good link, and it confirms what I've heard (and drunk)--brew for 30 seconds, dump it out, and re-brew.

http://www.qualiteas.com/features/decaffeinate_tea.html

Here's the relevant paragraph, though there's more interesting stuff, too:

The biggest surprise is that approximately 80% of the water soluble caffeine in tea is released during the first 30 seconds of brewing. So, to remove most of the caffeine from your tea, simply pour boiling water over the loose-leaf tea leaves in your teapot, allow the tea to steep for 30 seconds, and then discard the liquid. Use the same tea leaves with fresh hot water to brew a close to fully decaffeinated cup of tea for drinking.

can anyone recommend a place in NYC for rooibos tisanes?

Try Herbalsage.com

It's a small Athens, Ohio based tea company. The owner (Maureen Baums) has a good selection of caffeine-free options as well as a Roobis tea (see link below).

http://www.herbalsage.com/proddetail.php?prod=RedBush

(I'm partial to the "Zesty Green Tea" made with spearmint...makes really tasty iced tea in the summer too.)

I completely agree with Christine's comments on enjoying black in the morning, and greens / herbal in the evening. I enjoy a strong cup of Mariage Freres in the morning (Love Pleine Lune) and if I'm going out in the evening, I'll have a cup of green tea to keep me going. If it looks like a relaxing evening with an early bed-time I'll have a cup of ginger tea (Yogi tea makes a good one, or Traditional Medicinals) which soothes my tummy and tastes delicious.

It runs a little steep (haha, get it?), at about $20 a jar, but Aveda tea is seriously the most delicious non-caffeinated tea. You can try it in the Aveda stores, among the soaps and shampoos and whatnot before purchasing it, but I'm telling you---this stuff is phenomenal. I bought a jar back in November and I've only finished half. It's herbal, made of peppermint and licorice root, and has a soft flavor in the mouth that sort of unfurls in the back of your throat. It always makes me feel good.

I'm a green tea drinker in the evening. Since I use loose tea, I use just a pinch of tea leaves in the evening. Enough to give it some color and flavor but still very mild.

I essentially follow Christine's tea regime, decresing the caffeine through the day.

I start with a strong Assam and Ceylon blend in the morning (Royal Benghal Tiger from http://www.theteaemporium.com/customer/product.php?productid=837&cat=16&page=2 )

and in the afternoon, may have some jasmine tea - this is the best jasmine tea I have ever had, and have given it to many friends as a present:

http://www.theteaemporium.com/customer/product.php?productid=903&cat=&page=1

and fruit and herbal tisanes in the evening -- some of the best herb and fruit teas I have found of late are this wonderful lime tea:

blue lagoon tea
http://coyoteas.dreaminggates.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=162

and, believe it or not, that old standby celestial seasonings, but ordered from amazon -- the teas are way, way, fresher than from the grocery store!!!

My favourites are sleepy time, and mandarin orange spice...

Hooray for the tea drinkers! I vote for a counter to coffee week with our very own TEA week on the kitchn!
I agree with badhuman above, I have found some pretty good loose leaf teas sold by the pound at Porto Rico on Bleeker St in NY, and there is someone there to tell you what you're getting in the way of caffeination.

i was going to post the same thing Joan A did - the tip on brewing for 30 seconds and dumping out and re-brewing. it takes the caffeine out (mostly).

I second the vote for tea week!!!!! coffee's icky :)

I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I've heard that putting any amount of dairy in your tea will negate the health effects of the antioxidants. I also like my tea with milk, but I've been trying to use soymilk instead. I'll try to get more info and get back to you, just thought you all might want to know.

Here's a good link with more info, did you guys already know about this? If not, will it change your tea drinking habits?

http://www.brainready.com/blog/no_more_milk_in_your_tea_he.html

I'm just now catching up on my apartmenttherapy/kitchn reading, but I just had to respond.

Even though I am VERY picky about my tea (I have a French friend bring over Mariage Freres loose teas not pre-packed in tins that I can't find in Chicago), when I was pregnant, I had just this dilemma -- where to find decaf black teas that were OK.

The decaffeinated black teas from www.specialteas.com are pretty good! I still use them for making iced tea.

In terms of hearty naturally caffeine free tisanes, Intelligentsia's Blue Crane Blend satisfied my need for something hearty in the morning.

And the Mariage Freres red and green teas are divine. Buddha Bleu (green) and Sahara (red) are two that come to mind. Mighty Leaf's African Nectar is similar to Sahara and easier to find.