Photo by Bob Hall, © Bob Hall, CC BY-SA 2.0.Up through 2012, Teavana was perpetuating these myths in their marketing materials and on their website, making the exaggerated and false claim that white tea contains "approximately 1% the caffeine in a cup of coffee". Teavana has been one of the worst companies at perpetuating the myth that white tea is low in caffeine. Teavana and other tea companies promoting myths These blends can have a very low caffeine content, especially when white tea is only a small portion of the total weight of the blend. In part because white tea tends to be expensive, it is common for white tea to be blended with other herbs. The highest grades of white tea with the lightest color, like silver needle, are tippy teas the tips and leaf buds contain more caffeine because caffeine is produced by the plant as a defense against insects.īlending with herbs reduces the caffeine content of any tea, including white teasMost herbs are caffeine free, and when they are blended with tea, they lower the total caffeine content of the blend, assuming the resulting blend is brewed at a typical strength. Shou mei (longevity eyebrows), the darkest of these three grades, has the boldest flavor but the lowest caffeine content, and white peony (bai mu dan) is somewhere in-between the two. Photo by André Helbig, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.Some of the marketing material for white tea, which juxtaposes claims of white tea's low caffeine content with descriptions of white tea as having a light color and a mild and delicate flavor can lead people to the false conclusion that the lighter-colored, milder-tasting white teas are the lowest in caffeine, when in fact the opposite is true.Īmong the three most common types of Chinese white tea, silver needle (bai hao yinzhen) is the highest in caffeine, and has the lightest color and the mildest flavor. White peony tea, a white tea that is moderate in caffeine levels. Further sources for studies of caffeine content of specific teas can be found on our article on tea and caffeine. A 2009 study comparing one sample of white, green, black, oolong, and yellow tea found the white tea to be highest in caffeine the study used white peony tea, a typical example of white tea. White tea is not necessarily low in caffeineWhite teas are diverse and have a wide range of caffeine contents, ranging from some of the milder, low-caffeine teas (around 15mg/cup), up through the teas with the highest caffeine content (around 75mg/cup). This article presents accurate information about the caffeine content of white teas, explores how these myths have been perpetuated, and highlights companies that have been working to promote accurate info in their marketing.įor more on these topics you can explore our articles on white tea and the antioxidants in tea. Researchers studying the chemical composition of white teas relative to green and black teas concluded that the claims that white tea is lower in caffeine and higher in antioxidants than green tea are "complete nonsense". This myth is usually combined with the oversimplification that caffeine is bad and antioxidants are good, and used as a marketing technique to push white tea. In the U.S., there has been a widespread myth that white tea is lowest in caffeine and highest in antioxidants. Photo by André Helbig, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.The subject of white tea and caffeine is clouded to a large degree by myths and misinformation. White tea, pictured here, is a type of tea that has been the subject of much misinformation when it comes to its caffeine content.
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