Everything from squeezing more life from your loose leaf tea, to decaffeinating tea yourself...

We put together a list of 7 delicious tea hacks that you can use today…

In fact, these hacks will help you get more out of the tea you already have.

My favorite is the "Kill Brew" trick, so be sure to read until the end to see (and taste it) for yourself.

1 - Decaffeinate Your Tea Naturally with Boiling Water

For those sensitive to caffeine, decaffeinating is a well-known solution to the problem of drinking tea.

As all tea has natural caffeine as part of the package deal…

Luckily, your local grocery store probably offers decaf tea as an option. Or, what I mean to say is, unfortunately.

Commercial decaf tea is made from low-quality tea dust (literally, tea leaves ground into dust) that:

Goes stale
Over-brews
Loses any semblance to real loose leaf tea

Even worse, to actually produce decaf tea, producers steep the tea dust in methylene chloride or ethyl acetate.

By the way, methylene chloride is a volatile liquid notably used as a paint stripper and metal degreaser. The main hazard from methylene chloride is to the central nervous system. Short-term exposure can cause dizziness, headache and nausea. There is also evidence that methylene chloride can increase the risk of cancer … Sounds good right?

Everyone Wants it...

The most common question I get is about caffeine and tea.

As it turns out, all tea has caffeine.

The exception is:

Herbal “teas” which are not actually teas to begin with.
Decaffeinated teas that go through pretty intense industrial processes that ruin the taste of tea.

Even worse, in China and Japan where arguably the best tea comes from…

There is no demand for caffeine-free tea.

So any good tea will not be made decaf.

But What if…

But what if you could take your high-quality tea and decaffeinate it yourself without any weird industrial bleaching?

It turns out: you can.

We cover this in our comprehensive caffeine in tea article.

But this hack is pretty simple.

You can reduce the caffeine in your loose leaf by 50-70% using just one simple trick.

All you need to do is steep your loose leaf tea in boiling hot water (100°C) for 30 seconds and discard.

The caffeine diffuses quickly at this temperature, and more than half is removed!

This is great news considering we can reduce green tea to have less than 8mg of caffeine per cup.

Which is the same range as decaffeinated coffee.

2 - Make Tastier Rebrews by Leaving Tea Behind

When brewing in the Chinese style (basically less water and more tea) you can improve the flavor of your second, or third infusion.

All by leaving a bit of water behind rather than straining it all.

You might worry that you're over-steeping the leaves by leaving water behind rather than straining it all.

But it’s totally ok:

When you strain, leave behind just enough to barely cover the leaves.
The dropping temperature of such little water means it won’t over steep.

Why does this work?

Why does this improve the flavor?

Because leaving a film of water covering the leaves prevents them from being exposed to oxygen and then continuing to oxidize.

Remember, some Oxidiation in tea is natural…

But it’s not ideal for green tea.

This trick is considered a necessity in China…

But something you should always do if you are steeping your green tea multiple times.

3 - Get “Infinite” Brewings from your Puer Tea

You might not have heard of Puer before.

It's a unique category of fermented tea.

In Chinese tea, it is the only category of tea that is fermented.

Come to think of it, we actually have an entire guide about What is Chinese Puer Tea.

While this isn't necessarily a "trick", it's something that many people don't realize.

Like all high-quality loose leaf tea, it can be steeped multiple times.

Good puer, though, is special.

It turns out that high-quality Puer tea can be re-brewed 30+ times.

Usually, far more than you could possibly ever want to drink.

So whatever you do, don't throw your Puer away after your 3rd brewing like you would for Green tea.

This one can be 10x'd.

4 - Squeeze Out the Last Drop with a Kill Brew

Speaking of multiple brewing, once the tea leaves start to lose their taste - and you're about to throw them away, stop yourself...

You still have one brew left, but you're going to need to change your strategy to get it.

In order to extract every last drop of potential from inside those leaves…

You can do a final brewing at a higher temperature, for a longer duration.

This is known as a “Kill Brew” because the tea leaves are dead afterward.

Just pour boiling-hot water (100°C) over the leaves and let them steep as long as possible.

Just not before the water gets too cold to be enjoyed.

A few minutes will usually do it.

The Pros and Cons of the Kill Brew

That said, there are some pros and cons of the Kill brew.

The biggest con is that the taste of the kill brew is usually not the best.

Many of the bitter elements of tea (such as caffeine and catechin) extract faster in hotter water.

Meaning that the kill brew will bring a lot of those flavors out.

However, this is also the “pro.”

By doing this, you can bring out many of the flaws in the tea.

Experience its “darker” side.

And thus, you’ll learn a lot about the tea from another vantage point.

If you want to learn about tea, this tea hack will certainly help you

5 - Freeze and Compost Your Spent Tea Leaves

Tea, grown far away, is absolutely packed with nutrients, minerals, and other organic compounds.

Making spent tea leaves a brilliantly powerful compost.

After I brew tea, I take my used leaves and dump them into a shopping bag in my freezer.

Don’t believe me?

Here it is.

After the bag fills up, all you need to do is compost it.

Then throw it on your garden or sprinkle the fertilizer on your indoor potted plants.

Composting tea is easy and very useful if you garden.

6 - Smell the Gaiwan Lid to Experience the Tea Better

One of the easiest hacks is learning how to properly appreciate the aroma of your tea.

When you brew Chinese tea, it leaves behind some aroma in your cup or on the lid of your Gaiwan (or preferred brewing device).

So… simply stated:

Smell your cup after you drink the tea in it.
Or smell the lid of the Gaiwan to get a good idea of what a tea’s aroma is.

You can learn a lot about:

The quality of the tea
The effects of processing

7 - The Most Fun Tea Hack: Slurp Your Tea Like Ramen

Sounds strange…

But trust me. You’ll be glad you did.

You don’t need to slurp obnoxiously…

Just gently.

The added oxygen lets you taste more in the tea and helps release its volatile aromas.

Plus, it also helps cool down the tea so you can drink it more quickly.

While still enjoying it while it’s freshly brewed.

Quick tip: A lot of experts such as professional tea and coffee tasters recommend slurping liquids when tasting them. In fact, slurping soups and noodle broths is a common practice in many Asian countries.

Getting the Most out of Your Tea

By following these clever tea hacks, you can get the most out of your tea, starting today.

Whether you want to have a lush garden, fertilized with Tea Compost…
Or lower the caffeine content in your tea so you can finally drink a cup before bed…

These hacks will get you there.

As far as where to get some exuberant tea, I’d recommend looking at our shop.

Where we sell some of the world’s best Matcha and tea.

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