Does White Tea Have Caffeine

White tea comes from Camellia sinensea tea plants just as green and black tea, but the cultivation and processing are completely different. White and green teas are considered to be lightly processed. Specifically for white teas, their leaves are collected and first sun-dried on bamboo sheets. Then the leaves are quickly taken indoors to halt the process and allow a gentler withering processing to occur. Cultivators must pay particular attention to indoor factors like temperature and humidity which directly impact the quality of the white-tipped buds and tea leaves.

I recommend reading my article on White Tea vs Green Tea to learn further differences and health benefits!

There are generally three different types of white teas – silver needle, white peony, and shou mei (or long life eyebrow).

Silver needle originally comes from the Fujian province of China. Its buds have white, downy appearing hairs that give off a silvery look. This tea is only made from the tea buds rather than the tea leaves.

White peony is also cultivated in China and has its buds blended with young, barely opened tea leaves.

As opposed to Shou Mei white tea (long life eyebrow) which is made from more mature tea leaves that are harvested later than those found in White Peony.

Does White Tea Have Caffeine

Yes! White tea does have caffeine. Although this type of tea generally has the least amount of caffeine compared to other teas, it contains on average between 15 to 30 milligrams per eight-ounce serving. However, there are some estimates that place the caffeine content of some white teas at over 50 milligrams to at little as 6 milligrams, so it is always best to search for the specific type of white tea that you are consuming. The caffeine content of the white tea is affected by the type of white tea and the brewing methods.

Caffeine Content of White Teas

Below is a general guidance on caffeine content based on selected white teas. Although I only highlighted 3 common white teas above, there are over 10 different varieties of white teas each with its own health and wellness benefits.

Silver Needle is made from early harvested buds and is quite exclusive in cultivation and processing. It has been found that the buds of this tea have a high concentration of caffeine. Contrasting this to Shou Mei (long life eyebrow) is made of more mature buds from later in the harvesting season and mostly leaves.

Shou Mei, although having a bolder taste profile, has a lower caffeine content compared to Silver Needle. White Peony is likely in the middle.

Caffeine Content vs Other Teas and Black Coffee

Comparing the average tea caffeine content of white teas to other teas derived from Camellia sinensis plants there is a large variation. Green tea typically has between 12 to 75 mg, oolong tea between 50 to 75 mg, and black tea between 40 to 120 mg.

Generally, brewed coffee has at least 80mg of caffeine if you are curious, so generally teas will have less caffeine content than coffee with exception of black teas.

Interested in learning about other anti-inflammatory and antioxidant options that you can start incorporating into your daily routine?

Check out our blog post about the health benefits of Ginger and Turmeric Shots!