DIY: Decaffeinate Your Tea

Worried about your caffeine intake?

If you are, you don't have to limit yourself to only purchasing teas labeled as "Decaf". Any tea can be decaffeinated easily.

Here's how: Take any of your favorite loose teas and steep for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Then pour out the brewed tea, add more water, and steep again for the full recommended steep time for that particular tea.

Caffeine is very water-soluble and by pouring off the first brewed tea most (anywhere from 85-90%) of the caffeine is removed. An easy way to decaffeinate your favorite tea!

Iced Tea Maker

With the heat and humidity setting in here in the Midwest, it was time for me to purchase a new iced tea maker. Since I'm not a "fan of the fannings" of tea bags, my main criteria was to find an iced tea maker that allowed for using fresh loose leaf tea....the real, good stuff!

After researching different brands and reading many reviews on Amazon, I finally settled on the Hamilton Beach 40911 2-Quart Electric Iced Tea Maker. It arrived last week and I LOVE it! It has a more updated design to it than the typical iced tea maker, so you don't have to be embarrased to leave it out on your kitchen counter!


I love "sun tea", but don't really want to wait hours for my tea. This new iced tea maker makes fresh iced tea in about 10 minutes. You just add water, ice, and then fresh loose tea. The instructions recommending 3-4 teaspoons of loose tea for 2 quarts of tea, but I prefer to use a lot less tea and am finding that about 2 teaspoons is about right for my taste.

For anyone looking for a new iced tea maker, I give this one a big thumbs up!