Hello! If you participated in a tea blending activity today, this page shares some of the science behind the ingredients you explored.

The Science Behind Tea, Herbs, and Plant-Based Wellness

Welcome to one of the most ancient and popular drinks of our world—tea. Humans have been drinking tea for nearly 5,000 years. In terms of global consumption, it’s second only to water and well ahead of coffee.

Worldwide, people drink roughly 6.2 to 6.7 million metric tons of tea each year. For every cup of coffee consumed globally, about three cups of tea are drunk.

What Is “Tea”?

We often use the word tea to describe almost any hot drink made by steeping plant material in water. Herbal blends, flowers, roots, spices—if it steeps, people tend to call it tea. The same logic even shows up in gardening terms like compost “tea.”

In fact, true tea comes from a single plant: Camellia sinensis.

Leaves from this plant are processed in different ways to produce familiar varieties like green tea, black tea, oolong, and white tea. These teas dominate the global market, accounting for roughly 95% of tea consumption worldwide. Among most consumers, herbal infusions—known in the industry as tisanes (pronounced tee-zahn)—are also considered teas.

For practical purposes, that’s how most people think about it. If it steeps in hot water and ends up in a mug, it’s tea.

The Science

Tea plants also offer researchers compelling and varying complexity. The most commonly studied compounds are:

• Polyphenols – antioxidant plant compounds

• L-theanine – amino acid unique to tea

• Caffeine – stimulant that affects alertness

Those three together explain most of the science behind tea. Researchers study these compounds because of their antioxidant activity and the ways they may interact with human physiology.

For example, green tea contains compounds called catechins, which researchers often study in connection with cardiovascular and metabolic health patterns. Black tea contains related compounds known as theaflavins, which have also been examined for antioxidant activity.

Tea also contains caffeine, which explains why many people reach for it when they want a little help with alertness or focus.

None of this means tea is a medical treatment. It does mean that the plants involved are chemically interesting—and scientists continue to study them.

Herbal Ingredients and Traditional Use

Many tea blends include ingredients that are not actually tea at all. These herbal infusions use leaves, flowers, roots, and fruits from a wide range of plants. Some of the botanicals used in tea blending have long histories in traditional preparations.

Peppermint (Mentha × piperita)

Known for its bright, cooling aroma. Peppermint has traditionally been used in herbal teas associated with digestive comfort.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

A citrus-scented member of the mint family historically used in calming herbal blends.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale)

A warming root used globally in both cooking and herbal beverages. Researchers have studied compounds in ginger for digestive and anti-inflammatory patterns.

Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa)

Recognizable for its deep red infusion and tart flavor. Some studies have examined hibiscus tea in relation to antioxidant activity and healthy blood pressure patterns.

Caffeine-free tea plants such as honeybush (Cyclopia spp.) and rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) also contain unique polyphenols that researchers continue to explore.

To be fair, most people choosing ingredients for a tea blend are not thinking about phytochemistry. They are thinking about taste.

Blending Tea

Blending tea is essentially a small experiment.

You start with a base, add something bright or aromatic, and maybe include a warming spice. Sometimes the combination is excellent. Sometimes not so much.

Either way, you learn something.

Blending also encourages people to pay attention to plants in a more sensory way—smelling herbs, noticing texture, comparing aromas, and adjusting proportions. That kind of interaction with plants is one reason plant-based activities show up in therapeutic gardens, horticultural therapy programs, and workplace wellness experiences.

When people engage directly with plants, the experience can support attention, relaxation, and creativity.

Cuppa Experiments

If you are experimenting with tea blending, try starting simply by beginning with one base tea or herb. Add one ingredient that smells good to you. Then add a small amount of something bright or warming.

Write down what you made. If it’s great, you can recreate it. If it isn’t, try something else.

Whether hot or cold or somewhere in between, enjoy!

Sources

The information on this page draws on research exploring tea polyphenols, herbal ingredients, and plant compounds found in traditional teas and infusions.

Scientific references include studies on catechins, theaflavins, herbal tea research, and plant-based phytochemistry from journals such as Nutrients, Antioxidants, Phytotherapy Research, and others.