Not Just Tea

Everything You Wanted to Know About Tea and Caffeine

By Jennifer Jackson on April 08, 2026   /   antioxidants black tea blueberry caffeine Camellia Sinensis chinese Chinese Teas decaffeinated Fruit healthy heart disease Indian Teas Japanese Teas serenity blue tea tea 101 tisane wellness white cherry rose white tea    /   1 Comment

Tea Is Now The Popular Kid

Whether it is a cool pitcher of your favorite Serenity Blue iced tea or a steaming cup of White Cherry Rose, tea for many people is a way of life. Being the second most consumed beverage in the world, just behind water, tea is consumed in almost every country, on almost every continent. True tea aficionados swear by using loose tea instead of tea that comes packaged in tea bags that are usually made from bleached paper or plastics. Not only does using loose tea save money per cup and cut down on packaging waste, it also tastes better and supposedly contains more antioxidants and other beneficial compounds.

Tea = Camellia Sinensis Plant

To be considered “tea” a beverage must contain leaves and or stems of the Camellia Sinensis tree; otherwise it is considered an herbal or fruit tisane. There are many tea producing nations that each have a unique variety and flavor in tea. At Not Just Tea, we love Japanese, Chinese and Indian teas for their full and rich flavor and unique characters.

Same Plant = Different Teas
Since all tea comes from the same plant, what is the difference between the types of tea? Processing! How the tea is processed will determine whether it is a black tea, white tea, oolong, pu-erh or green tea. Flavor of the tea and caffeine content also are determined by the processing method as well as where the tea is grown i.e. soil condition, the time of the picking.

Decaffeinated -vs- Caffeine Free Teas

Many people do not realize ‘decaffeinated’ means that the tea still contains caffeine, although very little. Regular black teas can be decaffeinated by brewing the leaves for 30 seconds and then straining, after which, brew the same leaves again for the full amount of time. This will yield a slightly lesser aroma and taste, but with 80-85% less caffeine. Those teas marked ‘Decaf” go thru a CO2-decaffeination; the tea leaves are soaked in a carbon dioxide solution, separated, filtered with charcoal to remove caffeine, then re-immersed in the solution to reabsorb nutrients. This process decaffeinates and preserves 95% of the tea’s compounds and flavors with no chemical residue.
Note that decaffeinated teas are teas previously with caffeine and then have gone thru a process of decaffeination; they still contain some caffeine.

While caffeine-free teas like Serenity Blue are teas that have NEVER had caffeine!

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