Does Tea Have Caffeine?
You’re not alone in asking us this question, and resources out there often muddle the truth. Here’s the honest answer: The actual amounts of caffeine in your tea cup will vary. There are a lot of factors that go into making your cup of tea caffeinated. Of course, the ingredients play a big part, but so do the temperature you brew your tea at, how long you brew it for, the type of tea you are drinking, other ingredients, and serving size.
Even if we brewed your tea for you with precise measurements, the environmental growing conditions of tea plants can affect caffeine levels. So there still would be no way for us to tell you the exact amount of caffeine in your cup. That’s why we don’t put the mg of caffeine on our tea packaging. Read more about what determines caffeine levels in tea here.
Does Green Tea Have Caffeine?
Contrary to popular belief, the caffeine content cannot be categorized based on tea type (for example, the idea that black tea contains more caffeine than green tea). Black teas generally have more caffeine than green tea, but there are green teas that have as much or even more caffeine than some black teas due to how they are grown and made.
Stash Decaf Premium Green Tea is naturally decaffeinated using an advanced CO2 method, which takes out almost all the caffeine but leaves the flavor. Currently, decaffeination cannot remove all caffeine, but all Stash teas marked with Decaf Tea are under the 0.4% limit for decaffeinated labeling.
Does Black Tea Have Caffeine?
Black tea is usually the tea that comes to mind when looking for a substitute for coffee. But as we learned, there are a lot of variables that can affect the amount of caffeine in a cup of tea. In some cases, green tea has more caffeine than black tea! When comparing our Stash black tea blends, it is safe to say that Breakfast and Earl Grey teas like Super Irish Breakfast or Double Bergamot Earl Grey have more caffeine kick to them, while blends like Orange Spice, Sweet Cinnamon and Root Beer Iced would have less per serving from being blended with other ingredients.
Stash decaf black teas are made with black teas using a CO2 process which removes 99.6% of the caffeine but retains all the flavor, color and aroma of the tea. Our selection for decaf black teas include Decaf English Breakfast and Decaf Earl Grey. Like Stash’s decaf green teas, the decaffeination process does not remove all of the caffeine and contains 0.4% or less of caffeine per cup.
Does Chai Tea Have Caffeine?
Chai tea caffeine level depends on what tea type is used for the base. Since Stash is all about breaking rules, we have chai teas available with the traditional black tea as a base, as well as chai green tea and chai herbal tea options. Mixed teas like chai also have less caffeine than an all-black or green tea since they have other ingredients included in the tea bag and less of the actual tea. If you are looking for caffeine in your chai, your best bets are Chai Spice Black Tea and Chai Green Tea.
Some chai herbal teas are naturally caffeine-free like our rooibos based, sweet and spicy Spice Dragon Red Chai Herbal Tea or the turmeric-based version that has a smoother and milder taste than traditional chai Organic Gold Cup Chai Tea. If you’re reading this post because you like a caffeine boost in your teas we have options for that too. Our herbal teas like Ginger Fire Chai and Organic Rainforest Chai will give you that much-needed pick-me-up thanks to ingredients like guayusa, yerba mate or additional black tea leaves.
Stash decaf chai teas include Decaf Vanilla Chai Black Tea and Decaf Chai Spice Black Tea. As with our other decaf teas, the CO2 decaffeination method does not remove all of the caffeine and can contain 0.4% or less of caffeine per cup, but it allows the tea leaves to retain the most flavor possible.
Caffeine Consumption
The positive effects of caffeine are evident to those who drink it. And we like those effects. Besides that, caffeine drinkers generally consider caffeine to be helpful. Maybe you want to lose weight, be more focused, feel more energized or adopt a healthier lifestyle in general… Many caffeine drinkers claim that caffeine has assisted them in achieving those goals.
On the other hand, overconsumption of caffeine is marked by quite a few side effects: anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, and irritability. (1) If you haven’t experienced any of these side effects at least once in your life—congrats! You are better at adulting than we are. Hell, if you’ve experienced these side effects only a handful of times, you’re still better at adulting than we are. Give yourself a gold star and tell us your secrets.
Drinking tea instead of coffee is a great way to get your caffeine boost, without the high risk of drinking the whole grande-sized coffee you ordered and experiencing the downsides of caffeine. To compare the benefits of drinking tea to coffee, read our Coffee vs. Tea: Which Is Better for Me blog.