Guide to Drinking Jasmine Tea - Caffeine, Ingredients, and More
Does jasmine tea have caffeine? What's the difference between jasmine flowers and jasmine green tea? And what are the health benefits of this tasty tea blend? This week at Zest Tea we're exploring all these questions and more in our complete guide to drinking jasmine tea.
If you're interested in discovering calming yet still caffeinated teas like jasmine tea, make sure you read our section on CBD teas below too.
Jasmine Green Tea vs Jasmine Flower Tea
There are actually several types and many variations on "jasmine tea". Two of the most popular are jasmine green tea, and jasmine flower tea.
Jasmine green tea - made with green tea leaves and jasmine flowers. This jasmine tea contains either whole jasmine blossoms amongst the green tea, or is made by infusing the dry green tea with jasmine oils.
Jasmine flower tea - an herbal tea made with jasmine blossoms. This isn't a scented tea blend. It's a drink that's made simply by infusing jasmine in hot water.
Other Types of Jasmine Tea
Green tea leaves aren't the only choice when it comes to jasmine tea blends. Jasmine tea can also be made with a high-quality white tea, black tea, or oolong tea. It can be blended with endless other ingredients to create flavorsome drinks.
So, make sure you read the description carefully when you're buying jasmine tea to check what tea type it's made with. Not only does this impact the flavor, but it also impacts the caffeine content. More on that below.
Origins of Jasmine Tea
Jasmine tea is a Chinese blended tea type that originated in China. Compared to the traditional teas like black tea and green tea, which date back centuries, jasmine tea is fairly new. It became widely popular just a few hundred years ago.1
Fuzhou, the capital city of the Fujian province in China, is the proverbial home of jasmine tea. Traditionally, they make jasmine tea by infusing the green tea leaves with jasmine flowers, instead of just mixing the two ingredients together. Overnight the jasmine blossoms open and release their sweet flavor and distinct aroma, which is absorbed by the green tea. In the morning, the flowers are separated from the freshly scented tea leaves and the tea is dried.
A Calming Caffeinated Tea
One of the properties of jasmine teas that so many people love - including us at Zest Tea - is how relaxing it is. The aroma of jasmine is often used in aromatherapy. In fact, one study found that inhaling jasmine scents can even reduce pain intensity.2
Combined with the anxiety-relieving effects of L-Theanine,3 an amino acid found naturally in green tea, you can see why jasmine tea is such a popular choice for anyone looking to destress after a long day.
Jasmine teas have a range of wide-reaching health benefits too, that we've outlined below.
Jasmine Tea Health Benefits
The benefits of jasmine tea are very similar or the same to the benefits of green tea.
Heart Disease
The antioxidants in green tea that are also found in jasmine tea are great for preventing heart disease. One study found that the more green tea you consume, the lower the risk of coronary artery disease.5
Furthermore, psychological stress and cardiovascular disease have been linked in numerous studies - it's no secret that stress is bad for your heart.6 However, jasmine could be the answer here. Jasmine fragrance could be as effective as valium or used as a sleeping pill. Researchers have confirmed that jasmine is excellent for calming and reducing stress.7
Weight Loss
Jasmine tea can be used as a tool for weight loss, especially if you replace your usual high-calorie energy drinks with a 0-calorie drink like this one. Furthermore, some studies have found that green tea (particularly the caffeine in green tea) can help your body shed weight further.8
Menstrual Pain
The aroma-therapeutic properties of jasmine teas can reduce the intensity of menstrual pain and cramps. This is a great health benefit of jasmine, but bear in mind that it's possible the caffeine in jasmine tea can make the cramps worse, as it's a vasoconstrictor.9
Cancer
In laboratory conditions, catechins in green tea jasmine blends could have an inhibitory effect on cancer cell growth. Of course, it's not a cure for cancer and there's no evidence outside of a laboratory that drinking green tea could prevent cancer... but it's promising evidence nonetheless.10
How to Brew Jasmine Green Tea
The process for brewing jasmine tea is the same as for all green teas. But don't worry, it's pretty easy to brew.
- Boil your water and let it cool for a few minutes (until it's roughly 80°C/176°F).
- Add 1 teabag or 1 teaspoon of loose jasmine tea (approx. 2 grams) to your cup.
- Pour the water over the blended tea and let it steep for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the tea and sip your tea.
Ingredients, Nutrients and Calories
Jasmine tea contains two ingredients - green tea leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant, and jasmine. Whether the jasmine ingredient is buds, blossoms, or just the extracted oils from the flowers, appears to have little impact on the nutritional value of the tea.
We used the USDA FoodData Central catalogue to check the ingredients, calories and nutrients in jasmine green teas from numerous tea brands in the US. We found that on average jasmine tea contains 0 calories, 0 carbs and 0 sugar - unless other ingredients are added to the blend, like a sugary bottled iced tea.4
Natural green teas, brewed in water and with no added ingredients, contain no calories and are very healthy. Some interesting components of green tea include:
- Catechins - these antioxidants, particularly EGCG, found in green tea are of particular interest to scientists studying cancer.
- Amino acids - L-Theanine, just one of many natural amino acids found in green tea, has numerous health benefits including reducing anxiety and helping you sleep.
We've written a great article about L-Theanine and caffeine, two very important components of green tea, in our article Green Tea: What's In It and Why It Matters.
Does Jasmine Tea Have Caffeine?
Jasmine blossoms do not contain caffeine. Green tea, white tea, black tea and other tea bases made from the Camellia sinensis plant, do add caffeine content to your cup.
Per 80z cup:
- Herbal tea - 0 milligrams,
- Green tea - 28 milligrams,
- Black tea - 47 milligrams,
- White tea - 40 milligrams.
Compare the caffeine content for every tea type (plus coffee and energy drinks) in our helpful guide to high caffeine tea.
Green Tea Caffeine Levels
Green tea is a natural source of caffeine, but the leaves usually only provide around 28mg per serving. Jasmine tea is therefore usually considered a low caffeine tea compared to black teas, matcha, and of course, Zest Tea and energy drinks.
CBD Tea
At Zest Tea, we're well-known for our high caffeine tea and the energy boost it provides. But did you know that we also have some new, calming CBD teas? If you enjoy jasmine tea, they're worth checking out. It could be a great way to calm your nerves with a soothing cuppa, but still get that energy boost and productivity you need from the caffeine content.
We recommend you steep one of our Blue Lady CBD tea bags in hot water for a few minutes to create a tasty cup to soothe the senses.
Related FAQs
Does jasmine tea have caffeine?
The tea leaves in jasmine tea contain caffeine, whether it's oolong, green tea, black tea or any other caffeinated tea type. The jasmine flowers or scented flavoring is caffeine-free.
How much caffeine does jasmine tea have compared to coffee?
Jasmine tea, made with green tea, has 28mg of caffeine per cup. Meanwhile, a standard cup of coffee (not espresso) will contain roughly 96mg of caffeine per cup.11
Does jasmine tea keep you awake?
Jasmine and green tea both have calming properties that may help you sleep, but this tea also contains caffeine which may keep you awake. It depends on your personal tolerance for caffeine.
What are the benefits of jasmine tea?
Jasmine has calming, aromatherapy properties and green tea is great for heart health, weight loss and it may help cancer - but more studies are needed.
Is jasmine flower tea caffeine free?
If the tea is a simple infusion of jasmine flowers and water, with no tea leaves, then it will be caffeine free.
Is jasmine tea healthier than green tea?
Both are healthy to drink. Jasmine tea has additional aromatherapy benefits from the jasmine buds.
Can I drink jasmine tea every day?
Yes, you can. Tea is a healthy drink when consumed in moderation, even if you drink it every day. The FDA recommends you consume no more than 400mg of caffeine per day, which is equivalent to 13+ cups of jasmine tea.12
SOURCES
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmine_tea
2 https://www.ijsr.net/archive/v8i8/ART2020398.pdf
3 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31412272/
4 https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/?query=jasmine%20green%20tea
5 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15226633/
6 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2633295/
7 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100708104320.htm
8 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16076989/
9 https://www.livestrong.com/article/468150-caffeine-and-menstrual-cramps/
10 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27941682/
12 https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much