An undeniable tea fan for more than twenty years, I’ve consumed some boxes of Red Rose Decaf Black Tea lately. My mother drank orange pekoe tea daily, while my siblings and I were growing up.
So I think I got my love of tea by watching her enjoy it so much. Tea is often served at the homes of my sisters as well. So the tea-drinking tradition in our family has survived another generation. It continues.
I drink this decaffeinated black tea later in the day, when I can’t afford the waking effects of the original version of this product, evaluated in our Red Rose Original Orange Pekoe & Pekoe Cut Black Tea Review piece. That original version contains significantly more caffeine.
As teas go, this decaffeinated version of Red Rose black tea is among the best I’ve sampled. I taste little difference in flavor between the two products, though this one is a bit weaker-tasting than the original. I like its clear, deep orange-red color with virtually no bitterness. Red Rose sweetens well with stevia or agave nectar, and for a name brand tea, Red Rose tea is pretty cheap and easy to procure. Plus, it stock piles well, for years in a cool, dry basement.
Note that orange pekoe tea is a particular preparation of black tea. So orange pekoe tea is indeed black tea.
Benefits, Pros, Features, Advantages
Experienced tea producers. Red Rose is a well-established name in the tea producing business, as they’ve been growing and packaging tea since 1890. Their expertise shines through in this decaffeinated version of their ever popular black tea.
Long shelf life. This tea keeps for years without noticeable flavor degradation, as the box comes wrapped in virtually air-tight cellophane. The best-if-used-by date is roughly two years out from the date I purchased my box. But from personal experience, it will keep for longer without losing much great flavor; especially if the original package wrapping is left on.
Sweeteners compliment this beverage. This premium blended tea sweetens very well with stevia. Stevia sweetens the tea without destroying the signature black tea flavor.
Loud flavor, not suppressed by honey. Unlike the green teas I’ve tried, you can put lots of honey into this orange pekoe black tea without destroying its not-so-delicate and dominant flavor. Adding a bit of half and half or heavy whipping cream also highly compliments the flavor here.
Low caffeine. Harvested from mountain estates, this high quality decaffeinated black tea has little caffeine. So it generally will not keep you up at night, should you decide to enjoy a late-evening cup.
Economical to drink. This is a low-cost yet excellent tasting beverage.
Strings and tags stay attached to the teabags. They use real metal staples to fasten the string and tags to each tea bag. So these assemblies virtually never come apart, unlike some other brands that use a metal-free bag-string-tag construction.
Not too addictive. With little caffeine, I can break with a daily pattern of drinking this tea without suffering headaches, dizziness, or other caffeine withdrawal symptoms.
Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns
Teabags not sealed individually. The tea bags are not individually wrapped. Nor is the box once the cellophane is removed. The bags are arranged in three rows in this 48 tea bag box I’m looking at right now. So as soon as you open the box, and assuming that the tea inside is fresh, you get a strong smell of orang and black tea. The freshness begins escaping thus.
Can stain laundry and teeth. Being darker in color than many green teas, especially when you steep it for a long time, this beverage can stain clothes if you accidentally spill it on yourself. If this happens, flush it out with clear water immediately, so long as the affected clothing can be washed safely.
Weaker taste. This decaffeinated version does not brew to quite as strong a taste or smell as the original version of this product. But it’s still quite delicious just the same.
Brewing Instructions
Each tea bag makes one cup of decaffeinated black tea.
By The Cup
- Boil enough fresh water for the number of cups of this tea you wish to brew.
- While waiting for the water to bubble, put 1 Red Rose decaffeinated tea bag into each cup you’re brewing.
- When the water boils, immediately pour it into each cup.
- Steep for three to five minutes or until it becomes strong enough for your taste.
- Discard the tea bag(s).
- Sweeten tea as desired. You might also try added half and half, milk, orange, lemon, or lime as tea condiments.
- Enjoy.
By The Pot
- Use hot water to rinse out tea-pot prior to brewing, to warm it.
- Again, determine how many cups of this premium Red Rose decaffeinated black tea you desire.
- Put the required amount of fresh, filtered water in your kettle or pot.
- Put the pot on your stove and energize the heat.
- While waiting for the water to boil, remove labels from the Red Rose tea bags, to avoid possible contamination of the tea with ink from these tags.
- When the water reaches a rolling boil, immediately add the tea bags into the pot of boiling water.
- Remove kettle from heat and turn off the stove.
- Allow bags to steep in the pot for three to five minutes. Steep to taste here.
- Remove the bags from the pot with a straining spoon.
- Pour the tea into cups, sweeten to taste, add milk, lemon, lime, or orange as desired.
- Enjoy.
For Iced Tea
- Take 4 decaffeinated Red Rose tea bags.
- Remove the labels from them.
- Put these teabags into a tea-pot.
- Then, in a separate container, boil four cups (1 quart) of fresh, filtered water.
- Once the water boils, remove from heat and turn off the heat source.
- Pour this water into the teapot, on top of the tea bags.
- Steep for five minutes.
- Remove the tea bags with a straining spoon.
- Add sugar, lemon, orange, and/or lime as desired.
- Fill desired number of glasses with ice.
- Pour steeped and seasoned tea into these glasses.
- Enjoy.
Ingredients
Decaffeinated black tea.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving size: 1 tea bag (2.2 grams). Makes 8 Fl. ounces.
- Calories: 0, 0% DV.
- Total fat: 0 grams, 0% DV.
- Sodium: 0 milligrams, 0% DV.
- Total carbohydrate: 0 grams, 0% DV.
- Sugars: 0 grams.
- Protein: 0 grams.
Our Rating
Red Rose Decaf Black Tea is my current favorite decaffeinated black tea. It’s simple to prepare, easy to flavor, the process of removing the caffeine does not overtly impact the original tea flavor; though it does have a weakening effect on the overall taste and appearance. Nonetheless, this version of the product is quite good tasting, and easy to procure. So I’d rate it at 95 out of 100.
Where To Buy Red Rose Decaf Black Tea
Look for this decaffeinated black tea from Red Rose in the red box with the white cups and white lettering at your favorite grocery store. Most stores carry Red Rose teas, including this decaffeinated rendition. I’ve seen it at Walmart, Home Town, Weis, and Giant Eagle stores.
References
- Decaffeinated Tea on Wikipedia
- Orange Pekoe Tea on Wikipedia
- Red Rose Tea Website
- Where to buy Red Rose Decaf Black Tea
Revision History
- 2015-01-12: Tweaked content and tag placement.
- 2014-12-04: Revised content, added whitespace, updated internal links, and repositioned ads.