You need to drink more types of tea and then come back in 30 years and
give us your answer versus the amount of caffeine in multiple infusions
as a general rule. Some teas maintain their astringency after several
infusions and for a few it even gets worse. That means the caffeine is
still present while the taste is gone. It is easily reproducible in
some cases by drinking the first infusion then drinking the second a
while later and noting the physical characteristcs like the jitters,
sweating, alertness, palpatations, etc. I say that in general where
there is taste there is caffeine. When you do drink tea that is decaf
it seems to be missing something. So when we speak of caffeine water
solubility that doesn't preclude a leaching rate which might be similar
to the other taste components. It doesn't take a chemistry major to
conclude the less caffeine by weight in the first cup by weight the
less in the second if taste is the starting point. I use a lot less
puerh per cup than say Yunnan black gold which I think the stronger the
better. I wouldn't drink it before bedtime because it makes a lousy
cup of weak tea. It's a great breakfast drink. I say that one is a
good candidate for caffeine in the second or third infusion with the
described physical caffeine reaction. I think the Yunnan's in general
have multiple infusions with caffeine and taste. In other words they
hold something back on the first infusion all things being equal. It
is the cultivar and not some given rate of caffeine solution for all
teas. Duh.

Jim

Mike Petro wrote:
> On 21 Aug 2005 09:37:36 -0700, "Space Cowboy" >
> wrote:
>
> >I think caffeine is directly proportional to taste. It is just another
> >component that makes up tea taste.
>
> True, caffeine does affect taste, it is bitter.
>
> >A weak tasting second cup means
> >much less caffeine than the first.
>
> >If multilple infusions hold up in
> >taste then more caffeine in each cup.
>
> Neither of these statements make much scientific sense unless it is
> just coincidence based on your method of brewing. To draw these
> conclusions you must assume that caffeine will be extracted at the
> same rate as the other flavor components, it has been scientifically
> proven that these components dissolve at very different rates and that
> caffeine is one of the fastest dissolving components by a long shot.
>
> >Most of the elements that make
> >up tea taste are determined by leaching rates and not solubility.
>
> What is the difference? Are they not flip sides of the same coin with
> regards to extraction?
>
> >The
> >CO2 processing for reducing caffeine and not affecting taste is a
> >different principle than adding water to leaves and pouring off the
> >first infusion and declaring the caffeine arbitrarily reduced by a
> >percentage.
>
> Nothing arbitrary as the caffeine is significantly reduced, it is
> quite proven, now the exact percentage extracted depends on several
> variables mostly involving leaf permeability and the process of
> extraction being used, time, temp, method, etc.
>
> In addition to the CO2 process there is also a "Swiss Water" process
> that uses only water to decaffeinate the beans, unfortunately in the
> case of coffee it also removes flavor components as well.
> http://www.swisswater.com/decaf
>
>
> Mike Petro
> http://www.pu-erh.net
> "In this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed."
> Samuel Johnson, 1775, upon finishing his dictionary.