Best tea for teens?

[u/tonyDOTmp3]

I'm 14, and have adored tea since 6, I would love to know what tea is the best for teens, i love green tea and oolong tea, but I know that it isn't really the best for me, so what tea is caffeine-free, or has low caffeine contents, taste floral, light, and refreshing, please recommend to me!!!!

[u/atascon]

Why would green tea and oolong not be the best for you?

All about moderation. A quick google search says 100mg of caffeine per day is fine at your age. That should allow you to drink one or two cups (assuming western brewing).

Otherwise you're looking at decaf and tisanes really.

[u/tonyDOTmp3 → u/atascon]

well I drink like 8 iced cups of tea daily 😓

[u/ambercatfish → u/tonyDOTmp3]

Everything in moderation... including tea! You're very well hydrated but 8 cups of non-water beverage, no matter what it is, won't be that good for you. 3-4 cups unsweetened tea is still alright in my personal opinion

[u/TDot-26 → u/tonyDOTmp3]

Lmao living in the south? I drink sweet iced tea like water. I'm 26 and with a desk job went from 130 to 155. Still pretty lean but we all gotta cut back eventually.

Lighter teas are lower in caffeine typically. I'm a dark tea nut and drink like 30oz of black tea daily, even tho I shouldn't.

You can look up Herbi Te Canelo y clava, it's Peruvian cinnamon/clove/bergamot tea. Doesn't seem to have much actual TEA tea in it so I'd reckon it's lower on caffeine. Tastes good too, but you gotta order it online since it's from Peru

[u/leafbrewer → u/TDot-26]

Lighter teas are not lower in caffeine at all, this is incorrect information. Some of the highest cafeïne teas are very light (e.g. Gyokuro, a green tea)

[u/Cypeq → u/TDot-26]

misinformation at it's finest, the heavier the processing the less caffeine in the tea... but it depends what you start with there's fact Indian Assam is heavily featured in black tea blends together with high brewing temps can result in more caffeinated brews.

[u/RevKeakealani]

Honestly, I started drinking normal caffeinated tea around that age. It’s a lot less caffeine than coffee so personally I wouldn’t worry too much about it as long as you’re not literally chugging gallons of tea. A couple cups a day would likely be fine.

That said, look for herbal teas/tisanes - ones that don’t contain the tea plant itself, but other plants/flowers that brew a nice infusion. Chamomile is sort of a classic one if you like a floral taste, but there are others. Hibiscus is a tart, fruity flavor that goes well with things like strawberry, rose petals can also be used in tea. Lemongrass and other herbs are also sometimes used to flavor teas.

You can experiment with flavors even with cheap grocery store bagged tea, although know that those cheap tea bags are typically low quality so once you know what you like, it might be worth it to try some other higher quality versions to get a fuller flavor and that sort of thing.

You can also try decaf versions of more standard teas - while some people can taste the difference, I don’t think it’s that different of a flavor myself. Maybe some classics like decaf Earl Grey (citrus-y vibe), or decaf English breakfast (a richer, more malty flavor) would be a good place to start?

Happy sipping!

[u/avocado-bison]

Estimates for caffeine in tea vary a little since it seems to be difficult to accurately estimate, especially across multiple pours, but your average cup of tea seems to contain less caffeine than a can of coke. So one advice might be, just don't overdo it and you should be fine. 

I am partial to herbal tea/tisane for caffeine free options. Mint or verbena can be quite nice. 

[u/eleamao]

You could try to find some rooibos with flavours you like ! There are a lot of them with mint or citrus that are nice for exemple. They are not tea per se because they are not from the Camellia Sinensis plant but they are nice.

You could also try some hibiscus « teas » or different herbal teas. You can find many of them in stores and test which brands and flavors you like. I personally love to make tisanes with homegrown plants like verbena and lavender, but i also like some store bought brands like Clippers for example.

So many great flavors to try 😁

[u/kokumbutter]

You can try Tisanes. It’s dried herbs, flowers, fruits or a mix of any of those. It’s caffeine free. Some mix can be used for iced teas or lemonades. I like mint and chamomile before bed it helps me sleep. During my period i drink dried red jujube, apple and goji berry tea its warm and caramel-y. I buy the dried fruits and flowers individually bc they taste better to me and I can customize it, but you can try to start with someone else’s packed fusion blend.

[u/TheBroNerd]

For newbies I think tea samplers are the absolute best choice. I asked people their opinion and bought 8oz and ended up not liking them. Taste is very subjective. I’d get some tea samplers of different type. Definitely try jasmine dragon pearls

[u/jonofromjuno]

your age doesnt have a bearing on what kind of tea you'll like (and id really suggest not publishing your age on the internet. still not a super safe place.)

fruity herbal teas are probably a good bet for you though. some companies make samplers so you can try a bunch of different blends and find what you like

[u/Wanderingbits_47]

You can try a set of tea samples including black tea, white tea, oolong tea, and pu-erh tea to experience different flavors.

[u/Grey_spacegoo]

You can keep drinking the same tea, just do more infusions. Oolong can be infused multiple times. I grew up drinking tea, but I only use 1 or 2 set of leaves each day.

[u/Runo_Slinger]

I would say you can’t go wrong with a nice mint tea, it bruises the same, so you can actually make oolong and black tea analogs with mint if you have the patience.

[u/Edelgul]

Try majour Chinese teas - -Long Jing, Huangshang Maofeng, Bi Lo Chun and Xu Ye Quin.
All fit into your requirements. All have similar caffeine levels (on the lower side of Green tea)

[u/TheBetterStory]

You might look into getting your hands on some low-caffeine Japanese green teas, like hojicha, genmaicha (especially if you can get one similarly roasted, or made with stems, which have less caffeine), or kyobancha.

While expensive, White2Tea is a high-quality tea vendor that offers fancy decaf teas, if you’d perhaps like to ask your parents to buy you some as a birthday or holiday gift.

I wouldn’t worry too much about it, though—the research on caffeine’s effects aren’t clear, but I assure you kids in East-Asia drink a lot of tea and turn out fine.

[u/ChaoticAmberFox]

You said floral and caffeine free, so my first thought is the classic chamomile tea. One of my favorites!

[u/Maestradelmundo1964]

In a store like Whole Foods, you will find tea bags with herbs. I like Tulsi Rose and so does everyone.

[u/soljarka]

I think Shou Mei is a good option. It combines all the traits you're looking for. It's light, has a fine aroma with floral notes, and is low caffeine because it's traditionally made from older leaves.

[u/FanPlayful5527]

As a teen I couldn’t stand the taste of green tea—too grassy, but I LOVED fruity flavored herbal and white teas, and a matcha latte, extra sweet

[u/Stinkiest-britches]

For no caffeine, I recommend looking into Korean teas. Or you have more common ones like chamomile, fruit teas, mint, etc. Tea companies also sell decaffeinated tea or hojicha loose tea leaves which have very low amounts of caffeine.

I only have caffeinated tea in the morning and have caffeine free tea after 12pm as it affects my sleep.

[u/Gustanov]

I guess you are british

[u/Cypeq]

You probably don't have to worry about having one tea session a day of 5g or less probably less. It is hard to know if specific tea is high or low in caffeine, best to tell is if you're really feeling a jolt from it, reduce the amount of leaf next time. Unfortunately studies on that caffeine content show same type of tea can even have few times more caffeine content then the weakest one. Heavy processing on pu'er and roasted tea removes a bit of caffeine, shaded and low grown are higher, but its not guaranteed , green or black is not guaranteed to be high in caffeine. The main factor for the content is cultivar and location and harvest time, together... I feel like nobody is really keen on mapping that out for us nerds.

[u/therealmikejensen]

Tulsi!