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Tea guides The Tea Pure

Caffeine in Chinese Tea

Tea leaves naturally contain caffeine. The amount in your cup varies with the tea and how you brew it. Here are a few useful things to know before choosing.

Rose Black Tea with Yunnan Dianhong — brewed tea

Tea colour does not tell you the caffeine amount

Leaf material, portion size, brewing temperature, time and repeated infusions all affect the cup. White tea is not automatically low caffeine, and aging does not make pu-erh or Liubao caffeine-free. Without a tested value for the specific product and brewing method, we do not give a precise milligram claim.

Fresh green tea leaves
Fresh leaf, carefully kept.

Flowers and citrus do not remove tea caffeine

Rose tea, osmanthus tea and citrus blends still contain caffeine when their ingredients include tea leaves. A flower-only infusion is a different product. Read the ingredients on each listing rather than relying on the blend's name.

Pressed Yunnan black tea with rose petals
Tea leaf and rose petals, pressed together.

Choose with your own preferences in mind

For a lighter tasting cup, try less leaf or a shorter infusion, while recognising that this does not establish an exact caffeine amount. A quick rinse does not reliably decaffeinate tea. If avoiding caffeine is important to you, do not treat our regular teas as a caffeine-free option.

Brewed rose black tea
The colour of a brewed black tea.

Compare flavours with our tea selection guide and use the brewing guide to adjust strength. Contact us about any ingredient information missing from a listing.

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