The Answer to: ‘Does Green Tea Have Caffeine?’

Does green tea have caffeine? This is the one question we get almost every day we’re at the Farmers Market selling green tea.

The question is an important one for a wide range of people. That’s because some people are just a little uncomfortable with the caffeine buzz while still others feel they turn into jittering zombies by this stimulant.

The problem is that although these folks think it’s an ‘all or nothing’ answer – the simple answer may be ‘technically’ correct – it’s an answer that cause these folks from excluding themselves unnecessary.

That means that although the vast majority of these caffeine sensitive people could still enjoy the many benefits of green tea – they’ll end up keeping their distance from the very thing that could help them the most!

So the answer to the question does green tea has caffeine in it – the answer is yes but you’re about to learn a couple of things that will likely show you that the ‘caffeine question’ may turn out to be a moot point for the majority of people who are caffeine sensitive.

First allow me to get another important related issue out of the way:
Decaffeinated green tea.

According to Wikipedia (the online encyclopedia) tea is typically decaffeinated using a process similar to either the ‘Direct Method’ or the ‘CO2 Process’ used to make decaffeinated coffee.

The Direct Method involves rinsing the coffee bean or tea leaf with a solvents known as Methylene Chloride or Ethyl Acetate for approximately ten hours. Do I need to say  more?

The CO2 Process involves using a ‘bath’ of supercritical carbon dioxide at a pressure of seventy-three to three hundred atmospheres. I’m not kidding – you can’t make this kind of stuff up.

Let me ask you a question: Do you really think there’s any medicinal or nutritional qualities left in the tea after going through either of these processes? Me either…

Personally, I believe  ‘decaffeinated green tea’ is an oxymoron. Green tea by its very nature is packed with nutrients, antioxidants, etc. – and if it’s medicinal elements have been stripped out during decaffeination or manufacturing process then there’s no point it drinking it – Period.

Getting back to the caffeine that is present in green tea. I’ve seen different figures on the percentages of caffeine in green tea. Most range in the one-tenth of what you’d find in a cup of coffee to one-third.

Here’s the important thing – the caffeine in green tea is released into the body at a steady moderated level as opposed to coffee which delivers a rush of caffeine to the body all at once.

That’s the buzz or rush that people sensitive to caffeine want to avoid. The typical roller-coaster of  excessive energy which soon leads to the famous crash is simply not what green tea drinkers experience.

We have a number of green tea clients who are caffeine sensitive and not one of them complains about it being a problem for them.

NOTE: Please remember that just because a product is labeled green tea doesn’t necessarily mean it’s of good quality or that it’s been processed in a manner which maintains its nutritional and medicinal qualities. Knowing the source of the tea you’re buying makes all the sense in the world and it’s not that hard to find brands you can trust.

So we have addressed the question, ‘Does green tea have caffeine?’. Hopefully the reader now understands that the real question is whether they are drinking a quality green tea that delivers the caffeine in a manner that works with your body’s chemistry.