Is "herbal tea" tea?

Among tea connoisseurs, enthusiasts, and tea companies, I frequently encounter blog posts, webpages, and other writings (most of which come across as outright rants) in which people complain about the use of the term "tea" to refer to herbal teas that do not contain the Camellia sinensis plant. The claim is always the same: the only "correct" use of the word tea is to refer to Camellia sinensis; other uses of the word are inaccurate, wrong, misleading, ill-informed.

These people invariably advocate for the usage of terms like "herbal infusion" or "tisane" that do not contain the word "tea". Some people (whom I shall not name) have even made statements that they would never buy from a company that sold "herbal tea" because, according to them, the product would obviously be inferior because the company selling it obviously didn't know anything about tea.

What does the word "tea" mean?

What does the word tea mean? We all know that it is used to refer to the actual tea plant and the beverages made from it. But does it have other valid, accepted definitions? Let's look at the dictionary definitions of tea. The Random House dictionary gives a number of definitions, among them:

5. any of various infusions prepared from the leaves, flowers, etc., of other plants, and used as beverages or medicines.

Is this particular dictionary peculiar? Let's look at the American Heritage Dictionary's definition:

3. Any of various beverages, made as by steeping the leaves of certain plants or by extracting an infusion especially from beef.

Ahh, one could object, but these are American dictionaries. Let's go for the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of tea. The British know tea after all, right?

3. a drink made from the leaves, fruits, or flowers of other plants.

But do people actually use these terms?

Let's use google to settle the score. How many hits does the term "herbal tea" get? How about other terms?

• herbal tea - 3 million


• tisane - 1 million


• herbal infusion - 179,000

Herbal tea is by far the dominant term in mainstream usage; tisane is also widely used, but "infusion" just hasn't caught on; perhaps it's just too scientific sounding. As one final note, however, I want to point out that peer-reviewed scientific journals widely use the term "tea" to refer to herbal teas; check out this google scholar search for chamomile tea or a similar search for mint tea.

So...give it up folks. Herbal tea is a perfectly valid use of the word "tea"; it doesn't refer to the Camellia sinensis plant, but the use of the word "tea" makes sense because the two beverages are infused in the same way and share more similarities with each other than with other beverages. People aren't being ignorant just because they use a term like "herbal tea", "chamomile tea" or "mint tea". But people are being pedantic when they go around insisting people use words like infusion and dismissing people or companies just because they're using a perfectly valid term that is well-accepted by the mainstream.

Four Herbal Teas You May Not Know About

From my garden in Delaware:

It's late march here in Delaware, and we've had lots of wet, warm weather, interspersed by a frost here and there, but that's not enough to discourage the numerous plants in the mint family adapted to humid temperate climates: these plants have been growing vigorously and will soon have enough leaves to make the first batches of herbal tea of the year. I took a few pictures of the new foliage of perennial herbs that I use for herbal tea.

These are only a few of the many herbs in my garden; I thought to highlight these as they're all a little outside of the mainstream things that you typically find for sale as herbal teas. They're all easy to grow and, in my opinion they're all outstanding--people who haven't tried them are missing out!

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Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a plant in the mint family that makes a delicious tea. Its aroma is lemony, similar in many respects to lemongrass but gentler. Not only is this a very pleasing herb, but there is also some evidence it has antibacterial, antiviral, and stress-reducing properties.

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Monarda sp. (wild bergamot, Oswego tea, bee-balm) are aptly named. These plants, native to North America, have colorful flowers that attract bees, and the leaves make an outstanding herbal tea that closely resembles the aroma of the unrelated bergamot orange used in Earl Grey tea. They are useful for infusion on their own, mixing with other herbs, or blending with black tea to make something that resembles Earl Grey tea.

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Orange mint (Mentha citrata or Mentha x piperita L. var. citrata) is a cultivar of peppermint, which is a hybrid mint of spearmint and water mint. It has been bred for a citrus-like aroma, and while it looks a lot like peppermint, the similarity ends there.

I find this mint to make an outstanding herbal tea with a rich aroma; it also makes a very welcome addition to mint tea blends, adding considerable depth and complexity. Its strength makes it hold its own in blends with black teas. It is also more basil-like in aroma and I find makes a useful substitute for basil in the early spring and late fall when temperatures are too cold to have basil outdoors.

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I also tried planting something new:

Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) is a plant native to high-elevation scrub forests in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala. Its bright red, tubular flowers attract hummingbirds. The leaves make a sweet, aromatic tea strongly suggesting of pineapple; there is evidence from studies on mice that the herb may have antidepressant and anti-anxiety properties.

This herb is an annual in cold temperate climates, but it can take some cold. I'm hoping it's not too early to plant here in Delaware; I bought it from a local nursery that has been growing it outdoors in an unheated greenhouse, and those high altitudes in Mexico can get pretty cold. I planted it in a warm, dry part of the garden, close to the building in order to simulate its natural habitat more closely...we'll see how it does!

Private Label Teas

The idea of a private label tea sounds reasonable: a company sells tea that can be packaged and given a brand name of its own. It makes a lot of sense for restaurants, hotels, spa's, and any other businesses that wish to sell their own brand of tea, but either aren't knowledgeable enough in the tea market to source directly, or simply don't want to take on this added responsibility.

However, there is an ugly side to the phenomenon of private label teas.

The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal has an excellent article on this subject, by Randy Altman, titled "The Secret and Lucrative Private Label Tea Market" (from 2007, the article is now not viewable on the original journal's site but can be read on The Free Library). The private label business is a secretive one, especially when the source company also sells directly to individuals: any company selling such private label tea needs to hide the source of their tea, for if the customer found out, they could purchase the tea directly from the source. The customer might also feel cheated, especially if the markup were too high, and this could harm the company's loyalty--including in areas beyond their sales of tea (which might not be a main source of revenue).

Many providers of private label tea solve this problem by only selling wholesale. However, the markup is still high--it's just now even more effectively hidden from the customer. Nothing has changed; it's only harder for the prices and markup to be spotted.

Economic justice?

In addition to the question of a fair price for tea drinkers, there is a very ugly economic justice aspect to private label tea: the extra profit generated by the markup in this extra step is pocketed solely by the companies buying and selling the private label tea--it typically does not "trickle down" to the original producers. SOMO's 2008 report, Sustainability Issues in the Tea Sector, identifies as one of the major sustainability issues facing the tea industry the fact that producers earn such a tiny share of the profits from tea, whereas the company engaging in the last step, selling to the customer (in this case the company selling their own private label) earns the lion's share of the profits. In a sense, it's the opposite of the goal/principles of fair trade, which boils down to the idea of cutting out middlemen and ensuring that the price paid by the end customer reflects a fair living wage paid to the original producer.

By buying private label tea, you're effectively making the rich richer and keeping the poor poor.

What can be done about this?

Fortunately, there are easy solutions to these problems! Buying from companies that source directly (like Yunnan Sourcing or ) not only gets you a better price--you're getting the full value of what you pay for instead of just lining someone's pocket's--but, especially when you buy fair trade tea and/or tea sourced directly from small farmers (especially from farmer-owned companies like Obubu Tea), you're empowering the producers. Many companies, like Rishi Tea, take a multifaceted approach, working with fair trade and organic certification, and engaging in other sustainability-promoting initiatives. Equal Exchange also goes above and beyond the standard fair trade certification to work for economic justice. And Shanti Tea not only works with fair trade and organic producers, but is committed to biodynamic agriculture as well.

These are only a few of the many companies out there and many more are doing similar things; apologies to any I have omitted! Ultimately, these approaches result in a better quality product. Empowered producers have the resources for both preserving and developing new local tea cultivars, varieties, and traditions.

So what to do?

I would hardly suggest boycotting companies that sell private label tea...their ranks include Harney & Sons, SpecialTeas, and a number of other companies that sell directly to the consumer. But a good solution is to buy directly from these companies, rather than buying from companies reselling their teas for a higher price. Also, knowing the market can help you make wise purchasing decisions. As Marlena of Tea for Today pointed out in the comments, in some circumstances private label tea can actually be priced below the prices offered by a supplier, and this can represent a great opportunity. It's always important to be price conscious when shopping for tea--but it's also important to know how the company you are buying from sources their teas. If you're going to pay a premium, make sure you're paying for quality, and make sure that money is going to be put towards ensuring future generations will be able to enjoy diversity and quality of tea, rather than just allowing your money to go towards lining someone's pockets.

Expensive Tea is Inexpensive

I've always been a believer in focusing on value rather than price--it's one of the reasons I selected "value" as a rating category on RateTea.

What is an expensive tea? My favorite tea company, Upton Tea Imports, lists the priciest tea in their catalog: Top Competition Tie-Guan-Yin 2g (enough for a single cup) for $6.00. This is expensive tea. Tea does get more expensive than this, but this one is definitely up there. Teas of all styles are widely variable in price, but some of the priciest teas tend to be vintage pu-erh, yellow teas, Taiwanese oolongs, Japanese Gyokuro, and certain single-estate Darjeeling and Assam teas.

$6.00 per cup is really not all that expensive. It's common in the U.S. for people to drop $8 or more at a bar on a mixed drink.

Multiple Infusions & Cost per Cup:

Multiple infusions (brewing multiple cups of tea from the same set of leaves) are central to gong fu brewing, but even when brewing a cup or pot of tea in a more basic western style, the better teas tend to be usable for more than one infusion. This tends to be especially true of whole-leaf and large-leaf teas and compressed teas like pu-erh, as the rate of diffusion through the leaf is lower, and there is still a lot of flavor and aroma left in the leaf after making a cup or two.

When you consider how many times it's possible to brew a tea, the price changes dramatically. If you were even able to brew two cups from those 2 grams of tea above, it's now $3 / cup...and with three cups it's $2/cup. This is starting to sound pretty reasonable, especially since you can easily pay more for that when buying tea in a tea house or coffee shop. And that tea would just be for a special treat. You can get outstanding teas for far less than $6 / 2g.

So the conclusion is: if you're going to buy the best of the best in some aspect of your life, you might as well pick tea. It's the least likely to break the bank!

Breakfast Teas

I find it amusing that most "breakfast" teas, whether English, Scottish, or Irish Breakfast, or some of the "China/Chinese Breakfast" blends sold by a number of tea companies, always tend to be strong black teas. While I love many of these and other strong black teas, and I love having tea in the morning, I rarely have these teas for breakfast. These "breakfast" teas I tend to reserve for the late afternoon, usually the last caffeinated cup of the day for me.

My favorite teas for breakfast are bitter green teas. Chun mee and young hyson are probably my favorites, and I also enjoy sencha, especially when it's on the bitter side. My absolute favorite breakfast tea is Upton Tea's Chun Mee Dao Ming. I like a fair amount of astringency in my green tea for breakfast too. In black teas though I like a more mellow tea, like a gentler Darjeeling or a Keemun. I rarely have oolong tea for breakfast, but I have been known to enjoy a raw/green pu-erh, or shou mei white tea.

Do you like breakfast teas for breakfast? Or other teas for breakfast? How about breakfast teas at other times of day?

Tea for Hard Water

Hard water (water with a high mineral content, usually mostly calcium) is a common problem in many areas. While brewing tea is a matter of taste, hard water definitely affects the flavor and aroma of tea, and most people seem to agree that it has a negative impact on the quality of the brewed cup of tea. Many tea websites and tea drinkers advocate purification of water, and some even go to the extreme of suggesting use of bottled water to brew tea. For those interested in sustainability, however, this might not be the best approach--bottled water in particular uses a great deal of energy and resources in its transportation and packaging.

Is there another option? And what about those situations where you simply don't have access to good water?

Tea blended for brewing in hard water:

I recently stumbled upon two blends specifically designed for use with hard water: Yorkshire Tea for Hard Water from Taylors of Harrogate, and the Royal Alberta Museum blend from Murchie's. Yorkshire Tea's website reads: "We're actually the only tea company who still go to the trouble of blending to suit different water types." but Murchie's offering disproves this claim. Murchie's explains that the Royal Alberta Museum approached Murchie's to produce the blend for a special occasion, and Murchie's blended the tea specifically for Alberta's hard water.

With some digging I found a third such blend: Pluckley Tea from the Kent and Sussex Tea & Coffee Company. Again, this blend is specifically designed for hard water, this time the water in the Kent area.

What's the secret to these blends?

People wanting more options or seeking to achieve the same effect with single-region tea might want to know what these blends have in common. Murchie's Royal Alberta Museum blend contains mostly Assam with some Ceylon. Yorkshire Tea for Hard Water does not specify what goes into that particular blend, but their other blends contain Assam and teas from Rwanda and Kenya. Pluckley Tea is described as a blend of East African teas, mostly Kenya, and Assam.

It seems reasonable to try East African teas, and especially, Assam, if you have hard water.

I'd be curious to know if anyone has tried this out and validated this theory. Or...if anyone has even tried any of these blends (do they live up to their claims?). I would also be curious if anyone knows of any more teas specifically blended or designed for hard water. Unfortunately, these are all black teas, so I'd also be curious to know if anyone has any experience with which green or oolong teas perform better in hard water.

While using high-quality water is great, sometimes it's important to be realistic; sometimes hard water is all you have access to, and knowing which teas perform best in it could be a useful piece of knowledge.

Tea-Food Pairings: Spicy Food Enhances an Otherwise Undesirable Tea

I'm no tea connoisseur, and I've only begun to explore some of the most basic aspects of tea-food pairings. I recently found an interesting illustration of how important tea-food pairings can be.

I am constantly sampling teas from Upton Tea Imports (they're my favorite tea company), and among them was TD22, a Darjeeling tea from Steinthal Estate. (Link is to my review). It's a relatively inexpensive, broken-leaf tea, first flush but out of season when I sampled it. It was on the low side of what I have sampled from Upton, in terms of how much I liked it. I found it bland but when brewed more strongly, it had a heavy quality that I disliked.

More recently, however, I drank one of the last cups of it while eating a rather salty, spicy chicken and bean soup that I had made. I was astonished at how much I liked the tea now that it was paired with the spicy, salty soup. It had a clean, fresh quality and some complexity in the aroma that I hadn't noticed when drinking the tea on its own. I found this fascinating, as there are many teas, including some broken-leaf Darjeelings, that I like better, but that I find do not go well with spicy and salty foods!

I finished the soup, cleared my palate by eating some veggies, and then sipped the tea again. It seemed bland again! It was remarkable!