Caffeine in tea is reported badly almost everywhere, because the honest answer is a range rather than a number and ranges make poor headlines. What follows is the range, plus why it is a range.
The numbers, per 8 oz cup
These are typical brewed values. Your actual cup depends on how much leaf you used, how hot the water was and how long you steeped — all three increase extraction.
- White tea — 15–40 mg (bud-heavy grades run high, despite the reputation)
- Green tea — 20–45 mg
- Oolong — 30–55 mg
- Black tea — 40–70 mg
- Pu-erh — 30–70 mg
- Matcha — 60–80 mg (you are consuming the leaf itself)
- Herbal tisanes — 0 mg, except yerba mate and guayusa, which are not herbal in this sense
- Drip coffee, for scale — around 95 mg
The FDA cites roughly 400 mg a day as not generally associated with negative effects in healthy adults — about six to ten cups of tea. Pregnancy guidance is commonly 200 mg.
The myth: you cannot decaffeinate tea at home
You will read that a 30-second rinse removes most of the caffeine from tea. It does not. That claim traces back to a misreading of older research, and direct measurements have found a short rinse removes only a modest fraction of the caffeine while stripping out a good deal of the flavour.
If you need tea without caffeine, buy tea that has been commercially decaffeinated, or drink a tisane. Rooibos is the standard recommendation: caffeine-free, low in tannins, and it does not turn bitter however long you forget about it.
Why tea caffeine feels different
Tea contains L-theanine alongside caffeine, and a randomised trial found the combination improved attention-switching and alertness more than caffeine alone. That is the most concrete evidence behind the widely reported sense that tea gives a steadier lift than coffee. It is a real finding about a real compound, and it is also a modest one — do not expect it to carry more weight than it can.
Common questions
How much caffeine is in a cup of tea?
Typically 15–70 mg per 8 oz depending on the type, against about 95 mg for drip coffee. White and green sit lowest, black and pu-erh highest, and matcha higher still because you consume the whole leaf.
Does rinsing tea remove the caffeine?
No. A short rinse removes only a modest fraction of the caffeine and a great deal of the flavour. The widely repeated claim that 30 seconds decaffeinates tea comes from a misreading of older research.
Which tea has the least caffeine?
Herbal tisanes have none at all — rooibos, chamomile, peppermint. Among true teas the answer varies more than people expect; a bud-heavy white tea can carry as much caffeine as a green.
Can you drink tea while pregnant?
Caffeine guidance in pregnancy is commonly capped around 200 mg a day, which tea fits into comfortably. Herbal tisanes raise separate questions that have nothing to do with caffeine — ask a clinician about specific herbs rather than assuming herbal means safe.