Does Herbal Tea Contain Caffeine?

Why most herbal teas are caffeine-free

Caffeine in tea comes from one plant: Camellia sinensis, the tea shrub behind black, green, white, oolong and matcha. Every one of those is the same leaf, processed differently, and every one carries caffeine.

A herbal tea — properly a tisane — is made from other plants entirely: flowers, leaves, roots, barks, seeds and peels. No tea shrub, no caffeine. Chamomile, peppermint, lemon balm, nettle, rooibos, ginger, fennel and hibiscus are all naturally caffeine-free.

• ·Caffeine-free — chamomile, peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm, lavender, nettle, rooibos, hibiscus, ginger, fennel, liquorice, rosehip, orange peel.
• ·Contains caffeine — anything made from the tea plant: black, green, white, oolong, matcha, and chai made on a black tea base.
• ·Also contains caffeine — yerba mate, guayusa, guarana, and cocoa or cacao in any form.

The exceptions worth checking

A blend can be sold as 'herbal' and still carry caffeine, usually for one of two reasons. Either it is built on a green or black tea base — common in fruit blends and chai — or it includes a botanical that carries caffeine of its own.

Yerba mate and guayusa are genuinely caffeinated leaves. Guarana seed is more concentrated still. Cocoa and cacao contain a modest amount of caffeine alongside theobromine, a gentler relative of it.

Decaffeinated tea is a fourth case: it is the tea plant with most, though not all, of its caffeine removed. A cup typically retains a small residual trace. A true tisane has none to remove.

Where Orivaine blends stand

Every Orivaine blend is built entirely from whole botanicals — no tea plant, no added caffeine, no green or black tea base hiding in the ingredient list.

There is one thing to know: Crimson Velvet Comfort includes cocoa nibs, which naturally contain a small amount of caffeine along with theobromine. Every other blend — Clarity Cycle, Sovereign Sage & Citrus, Golden Nurture Mother and Midnight Calm Ritual — is caffeine-free.

• ·Clarity Cycle Blend — caffeine-free.
• ·Crimson Velvet Comfort — contains cocoa nibs, which naturally contain a small amount of caffeine.
• ·Sovereign Sage & Citrus — caffeine-free.
• ·Golden Nurture Mother — caffeine-free.
• ·Midnight Calm Ritual — caffeine-free.

Reading a label properly

The ingredient list settles it faster than the front of the pack. Look for the words tea, black tea, green tea, Camellia sinensis, mate, guayusa, guarana, cocoa or cacao. If none of them appear, the blend is caffeine-free.

Steeping longer or hotter does not add caffeine to a caffeine-free infusion — there is simply none in the plant material to draw out. It will only make the cup more tannic.