Roy,
Seldom do I feel the need to correct you but as far as my understanding goes, kukicha (bancha twig tea) which are made from the roasted twigs of the same Camellia sinensis tea plant as Green (gunpowder, young hyson, and imperial [as well as gyokori, sencha, matcha and hojicha {hojicha is bancha leaf and twig tea}]), Black (orange pekoe and souchong) or the Green/Black oolong, is much lower in caffeine that those other teas, but possibly the manner in which it is prepared may effect the caffeine content as well as it's astringency, bitterness, and ability to stimulate.
If one uses the Edition Wagenfeld Jaener-Glas (
http://www.schott.com/hwg/english/pr.../wagenfeld.jpg http://www.schott.com/hwg/english/pr...ges/drinks.jpg http://www.schott.com/hwg/english/products/ as found in the Goldmine catalog) or the Catamount (
http://www.catglass.com/prod.shtml?16 infusion teapots and boil briefly then steep the tea, one will get a sweeter, cooling, relaxing kukicha tea that quite possibly will have less caffeine than that using the old model of kukicha tea making which is: boiled in a pot until it is as dark as coffee and is as bitter, warming, astringent and stimulating as coffee (and probably has more caffeine in it, as well!).
For folks who for whatever reason choose not to use a infuser pot, you can boil the twig tea briefly in a non-reactive-material container, let steep and pour into a drinking container through a strainer.
I hope that clarifies some of the kukicha qestion for Mara.
Thank you, very much.
With warm regards, love, and peace,
Bruce Paine