On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 12:25:23 -0800, Lewis Perin wrote:

> "Jon Nossen" > writes:
>
>> "Lewis Perin" > wrote in message
>> news
>> > > > > and it is possible that the caffeine content in buds is lower
>> > > > > than in leaves.
>> > > >
>> > > > I don't think so, based on the small collection of numbers on the
>> > > > Holy Mtn caffeine content page.
>> > >
>> > > I'm not sure if that is a reliable source. Don't they state that
>> > > the teas they tested were made from tea bags? *Tea bags of white
>> > > tea*?
>> >
>> > I'm unable to cerify those numbers independently, but I don't see any
>> > reason to doubt them. I believe in tea-leaf freedom as much as
>> > anyone, but I don't see why incarceration would invalidate the
>> > caffeine figures.
>>
>> Do tea bags with white tea actually exist? Seems like a very strange
>> animal to me.
>
> Come to think about it, why are we worrying about tea bags? It looks as
> if the teas whose caffeine content is listed on that Holy Mtn page are
> all loose leaf (or Puerh tuocha etc.) teas from Holy Mtn.
>
>> According to the site, "The finely ground tea was extracted with hot
>> water."
>
> The way I read this is, they ground up the leaves before doing the
> caffeine measurements.
>
>> So is the amount of caffeine in white tea consisting of *whole leaves
>> or buds* similar to the amount in *finely ground* tea? Just wondering.
>
> Unless the grinding adds or subtracts caffeine, both of which seem
> rather unlikely to me.

Is matcha ground up? The one used in the Japanese tea ceremony?