Tea vs Tisane

I know what most of you are thinking, what in the world is a tisane? And what does it have to do with tea? Well I’m here to answer that for you.

WHAT IS A TISANE?

Tisane is actually another word for a herbal tea. But isn’t “herbal tea” just a fancy word for a healthy tea? Well, not exactly. Majority of the worlds’s tea is healthy and doesn’t need the word “herbal” to reiterate that point. Herbal simply refers to the type of plant used. For example, peppermint is a herb, therefore it is a herbal tea. This means that it is incorrect to call it a peppermint tea.

So, what makes a tisane so different from a tea?

Camellia Sinensis - the tea plant — *Camellia Sinensis* - the tea plant

TISANE VS TEA

Teas and tisanes are quite similar, but there is one major difference that distinguishes the two. They are similar in the fact that they both consist of dried plants and are brewed with hot liquid, but their major difference is the type of plant used.

To be classified as a tea, it has to derive from the camellia sinensis plant. This is the plant that all of the six main types of tea come from, which are white, green, yellow, black, oolong ad pu-erh tea. Any “tea” that does not come from this plant cannot be labeled as a tea. Therefore, a tisane is any herb, flower or spice that does not come from this bush. This is why we can’t refer to purely dried peppermint as a tea, but must refer to it as a peppermint herbal tea.

Just for a fun experiment, next time you pass by the tea isle at the supermarket or are in your cupboard, have a read of the packaging of your teas and you will notice that on herbal teas the word “tea” will be missing or “herbal tea” will be written somewhere in small font.

ARE FLAVOURED TEAS QUALIFIED AS A TISANE OR A TEA?

Flavoured teas still fall under the category of a tea, because the base of flavoured teas comes from the camellia sinensis plant. These teas are simply flavoured with herbs, flowers and/or spices. This means that a peppermint tisane can be labeled as a tea if it has been added to green tea.

Flavoured teas were originally created to mask certain flavours in the water (e.g. chlorine) that could not be eliminated through simply boiling the water alone. This is how the popular jasmine green tea came to be, for jasmine flowers were originally added to green tea in China as a way of masking the flavour of the water in Beijing.

I hope this clarifies the difference between tea and tisane for you. We love hearing from you, so if you need any further clarification or just want to say hey, feel free to leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Otherwise you can contact us on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, links below.

Until next time,

Chloe