CO₂ Decaf Courtlodge Estate Tea

• Country of Origin: Sri Lanka
• Region: Nuwara Eliya
• Shipping Port: Colombo
• Grade: FP (Flowery Pekoe)
• Altitude: 5000 feet above sea level
• Manufacturer Type: Orthodox
• Cup Characteristics: Courtlodge is one of the top Ceylon estates. The FP leaf style retains its quality during the decaffeination process.
• Infusions: Tending bright and coppery notes.
• Ingredients: Decaffeinated black tea.

We thoroughly scrutinize our decaffeinated teas to ensure that they stand up to Canadian Quality specifications. All of our decaffs are processed using the CO₂ Process. The advantage of this decaffeination process is that no chemical solvents are used to remove the caffeine. Also, using the naturally occurring CO₂ in a circulation process, which carefully uses high pressure and temperature to extract the caffeine, the origin distinct character of the tea is retained in the cup. There is a slight change in the character of the tea due to the process but the end result is an uncompromising cup of tea with no chemical overtones.

We used Courtlodge estate for this estate decaff for several reasons: Courtlodge gives us the character we are looking for - a flavoury and satisfying tea; Courtlodge is one of the top Ceylon tea estates for quality; we have visited Courtlodge and confirmed that they undertake proper manufacturing techniques, keep plucking standards high, and reinvest in the estate and its personnel; but most importantly we have found that Courtlodge estate tea retains it’s character under CO₂ decaffeination processes much better than other teas we have tested.

Typically quality of the tea is judged by hundreds of the tea tasters around the world. On a weekly basis raucous lively auctions are held in various producing countries where world prices are set. Tasters are looking for similar characteristics, so in the matter of a few seconds the value of the tea is established according to supply and demand functions and quality gradients.