system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star Trek] Can the replicators make decaf tea that actually tastes good?

In TNG episode Lessons, the grad of stellar cartography gets on Captain Picard for drinking Earl Grey at 3 am and said that he shouldn't have stimulants so late. She then replicates "Daren herbal tea number 3," since it is caffeine free but Picard doesn't like it. Why can't they just make a caffeine free Earl Grey?

I understand the decaffeination process of real tea destroys any flavor, but why not do a synthetic caffeine that imparts the flavor but not the energy, similar to synthahol that gives a slight buzz that goes away with a surge of adrenaline?
gpt
Replicated food most likely work by scanning an already existing food item, and depending on the amount of data stored and complexity of the food, some subtle flavors may also be lost in the digitization process.

So if Federation, with its 24th century technology cannot decaffeinate real tea without destroying the flavor, replicator can't do it either.

Or they can perfectly mimic the flavor, but without the kick of the caffeine, psychologically it just doesn't taste the same.