Let’s first explain the difference.

What are caffeine-free teas?

Caffeine-free teas are all teas that are naturally caffeine free. This means, if you were to harvest and dry yourself, you wouldn’t need to do anything to remove the caffeine.

All real teas come from the Camellia sinensis plant, and they all naturally contain caffeine. All other teas – tisanes – may or may not be naturally caffeinated. Most tisanes are naturally caffeine free and only some will contain caffeine. Some of the naturally caffeinated plants are South American yerba mate, guayusa, yaupon, cocoa bean, guarana, etc.

All real teas – white, yellow, green, oolong, black and dark will contain caffeine. Almost all tisanes (that is, non-Camellia sinensis) will be naturally caffeine-free. And only some tisanes will contain caffeine.

What are decaf teas?

Decaf teas are real teas made from Camellia sinensis plant that went through a process of decaffeination which removes a naturally occurring caffeine from the tea leaf. Caffeinated tisanes are usually not available as decaf teas. All non-caffeinated tisanes are simply called (caffeine-free) tisanes, rather than decaf tisanes. If you see a word decaf, it will imply there were decaffeination processes involved when making a certain tea.

So why would you want to remove caffeine from Camellia sinensis tea leaves and not from other caffeinated plants? Why is there no such thing as decaf guayusa or decaf guarana? There are many answers to this question.

Decaf vs caffeine-free teas – differences

First, Camellia sinensis is a cultural drink, same as coffee is. It’s a healthy drink too, that may offer an entire array of benefits that differ from benefits of tisanes.

1. Health benefits

Potential health benefits of real teas will differ from potential health benefits of tisanes. All real teas will offer similar benefits, with some differences among different types. However, every tisane will have its own traditional use and a distinct set of potential benefits.

There are different methods of removing caffeine from tea leaves. Some methods will impact catechins more than the others and may significantly reduce the total catechin content in tea leaves. This means that the potential benefits will be lower too.

For example, green tea enjoys a reputation of a healthy drink because of a high catechin content and black tea is mostly a cultural drink. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that black tea is more commonly decaffeinated than green. Decaf oolong is more difficult to find, and decaf white tea is quite an exception. Some studies suggest decaffeination may significantly reduce catechins from tea leaves (1).

Since there is no decaffeination process involved with tisanes, the content of beneficial compounds will stay the same.

Should this be of a concern if you are drinking tea mainly for benefits? Yes, and no, as the total amount of catechins extracted from tea leaves will depend on many factors. Your decaf tea may have more catechins that some other non-decaf tea, and vice versa. It’s still good to know which decaf process was used as some techniques are better (and healthier) than others.

Let’s get back to the previous example. A native Amazonian plant, guarana, has 4 times more caffeine than coffee bean (2). And that’s exactly its main purpose — to provide energy. Guarana is rich in catechins and may provide other benefits too, but because of its bitter flavour, it tastes better when mixed with other ingredients or as a supplement. Coffee is bitter too, and there is still decaf coffee out there. That’s because coffee is a world-wide cultural and social drink, just like Camellia sinensis tea, which is not the case with guarana.

2. Flavour differences

The process of decaffeination may change the flavour of tea and some decaf teas may taste blander. Maybe you heard that decaf coffee and teas taste bland, and that could be correct. A study on sensory characteristics of decaf green teas showed that even the most favourable CO2 decaffeination method will impact the flavour (3). The final flavour will depend on the process of decaffeination and tea processing techniques. But if you were to do a blind tasting and didn’t know which tea types you are trying, there’s a high chance you wouldn’t be able to tell its decaf or not.

Flavour is also a reason for decaffeinating Camellia sinensis teas. For example, many tea drinkers drink black tea only because of its flavour and robustness, and tisanes with a naturally occurring caffeine for its energy boosting benefits or cultural importance, rather than just flavour.

Just like all non-decaf teas, all decaf teas will taste differently. This means that even if you don’t like the flavour of one decaf tea, another decaf tea may taste completely different.

3. Number of types

Not all real teas are available in a decaf style, and if you have a specific preference, you may struggle to find the perfect tea. The most commonly decaffeinated teas are black Assam teas, more rarely green teas, and other tea types are almost never available in a decaf style.

That’s because the decaffeination process is usually used for black teas. Another reason is that black teas are the more robust, and they contain the highest amount of caffeine. There are thousands of different caffeine-free teas out there – from common chamomile, mint and rose, to more uncommon types such as chrysanthemum, island moss or elderberry flower tea.

Limited choice doesn’t mean that there aren’t hundreds of decaf teas out there. On the contrary – there are hundreds of good decaf teas available today. This simply meant that only some types of teas, like Assam, Darjeeling, English Breakfast, Mao Feng and Sencha, are available in a decaf style. Rare teas, like Dan Cong oolong or Rizhao green tea, are unlikely to be decaffeinated.

4. Caffeine content

Words decaf and caffeine free may sound alike, but one is not 100% caffeine free. If you really want to avoid ALL caffeine, then caffeine-free teas are a better choice than decaf teas. There’s no such thing as a caffeine-free decaf tea. All decaf teas will contain some caffeine, but that amount will usually be very low, less than a few milligrams per cup.

Some non-decaf caffeinated Camellia sinensis tea leaves may naturally contain a lower amount of caffeine. If you don’t mind a bit of caffeine, try roasted green teas and teas with larger unbroken leaves made from mature plant material. If you are looking for tea with a naturally low caffeine content, Japanese kyobancha and roasted kukicha are both wonderful choices.

There may be a potential advantage of choosing naturally low over decaf teas. For example, no solvents were used to reduce the caffeine content – this happened naturally. Teas that are naturally lower in caffeine are usually made from more mature tea leaves and often roasted.

5. Cultural importance

Rarely any tisane will have such a huge cultural importance as Camellia sinensis teas. Many countries, including China, India, Japan, Morocco, Turkey, and England, have a strong tea culture which includes Camellia sinensis tea. You simply can’t replace an English Breakfast tea blend with a cup of chamomile tea – but you can replace a regular caffeinated blend with a decaf one and still enjoy the (same) flavour. The most readily available decaf teas are teas that are the most popular — pure Assam, English breakfast blends, green Chinese sencha and gunpowder tea and Indian Darjeeling tea. Although rare teas are not usually available in a decaf style, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have a cultural importance. They do, but they are mostly a choice of tea connoisseurs, rather than simply a daily beverage.

Decaf vs Caffeine Free teas recap

Now, when you know the difference between decaf vs caffeine free teas, you can make an informed choice that suits your needs and preferences. If you want to avoid caffeine completely, choose caffeine-free teas, as all decaf teas will contain at least a few milligrams of caffeine per cup. However, all other factors such as flavour and health benefits will solely depend on the tea, not on the type. Both real teas and tisanes may provide many benefits, and many delicious flavours.

The best cup of tea is the one you thoroughly enjoy, and will offer some benefits too, regardless of if they are emotional, physical or social.

Sources:

(1) https://academicjournals.org/journal/JMPR/article-full-text-pdf/4D5793D23342

(2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4399916/

(3) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19397734/

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Tea vs Tisane Comparison

So how different are teas and tisanes? In the last century, western tea lovers weren’t so lucky to have such an enormous variety of teas to choose from. Black tea was mostly called just “black tea” and “green tea” was just “green”. For many tea drinkers, where they came from or how they were made was not necessarily important. The most common tisanes were chamomile, mint, and rosehip, and the most common tea was simply just black or green tea. But that was several decades ago. Today we have thousands of teas and tisanes to choose from, and that number keeps getting bigger each day.

So, what makes them different? First there’s the plant type.

1. Teas and tisanes are made from different plants

It’s a common fact that all tea is made from Camellia sinensis plant, and all tisanes are made from flowers, leaves, fruits, roots, seeds and bark of all other plants that are not Camellia sinensis. In theory, every edible plant, or part of a plant, can be steeped in water. However, the Camellia sinensis plant is not the only plant used for making real tea.  

Real teas can be made from different varieties and cultivars of Camellia sinensis plant, but they can also be made from plants that belong to another Camellia botanical genus. Unless you are drinking lots of pure specialty tea, it’s likely you won’t come across Camellia taliensis or even more uncommon Camelia ptilophylla teas. So most real teas are made from Camellia sinensis plant.

Let’s compare this to the simple tisane – mint tea. The most common mint tea is Mentha piperita. Mentha is the botanical genus, and piperita is the botanical species. In the same way, Camellia is the botanical genus, and sinensis is the species. Therefore, you are more likely to try different species of Mentha plant than Camellia plant, such as spearmint or Mentha spicata.  

2. Teas can be processed into 6 different types

There are 6 main types of tea – white, yellow, green, oolong, black and dark. Although there are thousands of different tisanes, most are made in the same way – usually simply dried.

But it gets more interesting. There are thousands of subtypes of white, yellow, green, oolong, black and dark teas and they will all have a very different flavour. Most tisanes made from the same plant will have a similar flavour. For example, there are many types of chamomile and mint tea, but their flavour will depend on the plant, rather than processing methods.

Camellia sinensis teas get their flavour not only from the cultivar, but different processing methods, too. You can’t find steamed or roasted and aged chamomile, but you can find steamed green tea, oven baked oolong, or even aged white teas. There are a few exceptions among tisanes, though. For example, green and red rooibos, and green and roasted yerba mate and yaupon.

Real teas undergo a complicated processing method. Most tisanes are simpler, and they are usually only dried. In fact, you can make your own herbal tea by simply drying mint, chamomile, nettle or other plants, but it’s not so easy to make proper green or black tea at home – although it is possible.

All real teas undergo many processing steps, and it’s not uncommon to have over 10 steps until you get the perfect tea. 

3. Both can contain caffeine and be caffeine free

Most tisanes are caffeine free, and almost all teas contain caffeine. But there are exceptions in both categories. Some of the most popular caffeinated herbal teas are yaupon, guayusa and yerba mate. Guarana, another caffeinated plant, is often an ingredient in herbal energy tea blends. Camellia ptilophylla, a plant from Camellia botanical genus, is naturally decaffeinated, and still belongs to “real teas”. However, this tea is very rare.

4. All of them may provide antioxidant properties

Antioxidants properties in teas and tisanes come from different substances that can fight free radicals. (Source: Harvard Chan) Many substances can be categorized as antioxidants, and each tisane and tea will contain them, but not all of them are the same. The most mentioned antioxidant properties in green tea come from catechins, and in black tea from theaflavins. They are both polyphenols. (Source: NCBI) Tisanes contain polyphenols too. For example, rooibos is rich is aspalathin and ginger in gingerol. (Source: Science Direct, NIH) Each tea and tisane will contain different substances that may provide antioxidant properties. Which benefits they may provide and how potent they are will depend on their overall composition and other factors – for example, such as how you brew them and how fresh they are.

5. Tea vs tisane brewing

Brewing tea is an art, brewing tisanes is a habit. Making a cup of herbal or fruit tea is usually a straightforward process. You can use boiling water for almost all of them, and steep them for 5 or more minutes. Many of them will never be bitter, no matter how long you steep them for. But making a perfect cup of real tea is often an art and may require some patience and skills and many of them may be bitter if you over-brew them. In fact, all tea ceremonies include real teas rather than tisanes. There are different cups and teapots for different teas, but no one has ever invented a special teapot for making chamomile tea.

Tea vs Tisane Recap

Teas and tisanes are separate categories, but they may have some characteristics. If you are looking for benefits, both may provide them. If you want to explore flavours, there are thousands to explore in both categories. The main difference is in processing and brewing methods and caffeine content – almost all real teas will always contain caffeine, and almost all tisanes will be caffeine free. What’s certain is that there is a right tisane and a right tea for everyone.

Explore teas and tisanes to try here.

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