Herbal tea
beverage made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water
Herbal teas or herb teas, technically known as herbal infusions and less commonly called tisanes, are beverages made from the infusion or decoction in water of any herbs, spices, or other plant material (except tea leaves). Many herbs used in teas/tisanes are also used in herbal medicine and in folk medicine.
Herbal teas are not technically a tea because they are not brewed from the tea plant (Camellia sinensis).
The term "herbal tea" is often used to distinguish these infusions from true teas (e.g., black, green, white, yellow, oolong). Blended teas include material from other plants, such as in jasmine tea, genmaicha, and Earl Grey tea.
Unlike true teas, most tisanes do not naturally contain caffeine (though tea can be decaffeinated, i.e., processed to remove caffeine).
A number of plants, however, do contain psychoactive compounds, such as caffeine or another stimulant, like theobromine, cocaine or ephedrine. Some have the opposite effect, acting as a sedative. Some common infusions have specific names such as mate (yerba mate) and rooibos (red bush).
Etymology
Dictionaries commonly record that the word tea is used to refer to other plants beside the tea plant and to beverages made from these other plants.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Herbal tea” as beverage made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as beverage made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q379932. The Library of Congress control number is sh85060334. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Herbal tea” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.