Tea Caffeine Chart: mg in Black, Green, White, Oolong and Matcha

The single numbers in the chart are typical values, not guarantees. USDA FoodData Central measures a standard brewed cup; your own cup can land well above or below it. The clearest evidence for how much it varies is a laboratory study of 20 commercial teas brewed at different serving sizes and steep times (Chin et al., Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 2008). It found white, green, and black teas ranged from 14 to 61 mg per 6 or 8 oz serving, with no observable trend by tea type.

That has two practical meanings. First, the type of tea sets a starting point, and how you brew it decides where you land. Second, a strong green tea can have more caffeine than a weak black tea. The rankings in the chart hold for typical cups, not every cup.

Black tea has more caffeine than green tea in a typical cup: about 47 mg vs about 28 mg per 8 oz by USDA's values (48 vs 29 mg in Mayo Clinic's chart). Both come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. The gap comes mostly from brewing habits: black tea is usually steeped in boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes, and green tea in cooler water for 1 to 3 minutes. Hotter water and longer steeps pull more caffeine from any leaf.

Brew green tea hot and long, or use a caffeine-rich green like matcha or a shade-grown Japanese tea, and the gap narrows or reverses. For the full comparison beyond caffeine (processing, flavor, brewing), see green tea vs black tea, and for the green row in depth, does green tea have caffeine.

White tea does not reliably have less caffeine than green tea. The common claim that white tea is the lowest-caffeine true tea is not supported by lab data. In the Chin et al. (2008) analysis, white teas fell inside the same 14 to 61 mg per serving range as green and black teas, and the authors reported no trend by tea type.

Why it varies: white tea is made from young leaves and often unopened buds, and buds tend to carry more caffeine than older leaves. On the other hand, white tea is usually brewed with cooler water, which extracts less. A bud-heavy white tea such as Silver Needle, brewed hot and long, can match or exceed a typical green tea. A leafy white brewed cool and short will usually come in lower.

USDA FoodData Central has no brewed white tea entry, which is why the chart shows a range instead of a single number. For the full side-by-side, see white tea vs green tea and our best white teas.

• Steep time. Caffeine keeps extracting for several minutes, so a longer steep means more caffeine. This is the easiest lever you control.
• Water temperature. Hotter water extracts caffeine faster. Boiling water on black tea pulls more than 175°F water on green tea. Temperatures by type are in our brewing temperature chart.
• Amount of leaf. Two bags, or a heaping spoon of loose leaf, roughly means more caffeine in the cup.
• Leaf size. Broken leaf and fannings in standard tea bags expose more surface and release caffeine faster than whole leaf.
• Buds and shade. Young buds and shade-grown leaves (the kind used for matcha and gyokuro) tend to be higher in caffeine.
• Re-steeps. Most of the caffeine comes out in the first infusion, so a second steep of the same leaves carries less.

Matcha sits at the top because you drink the leaf itself instead of an infusion. A review of matcha chemistry (Kochman et al., Molecules, 2021) reports 18.9 to 44.4 mg of caffeine per gram, so a typical 2 g serving (about 1 teaspoon) carries about 38 to 88 mg, and a 4 g serving roughly double. Full conversions are in our matcha caffeine guide and how much caffeine is in matcha.

Decaf tea is low, not zero. USDA lists brewed decaf black tea at about 2 mg per cup, and the Chin et al. lab test found decaffeinated teas under 12 mg per serving. That matters only if you are very sensitive or drink many cups. Our best decaf tea guide covers the options.

Herbal tea is the only true zero. Peppermint, chamomile, hibiscus, and rooibos contain no tea leaf, USDA lists them at 0 mg, and the lab study detected no caffeine in herbal teas. The exception is a blend that adds tea leaves, such as Moroccan mint (green tea plus spearmint). See peppermint vs spearmint tea and the best teas for sleep.

All values from USDA FoodData Central except matcha (Kochman et al., 2021). A cup of black tea is about half a coffee; a cup of green is under a third. Our tea vs coffee and matcha vs coffee guides go further.

The FDA says up to 400 mg of caffeine a day is an amount not generally associated with negative effects for healthy adults. Dividing that by the chart's typical values, if tea were your only caffeine:

Real days mix sources, so add roughly. Timing matters too: many people sleep better if they switch to herbal tea by mid-afternoon. Sensitivity varies, and pregnant readers should ask a doctor about lower limits. This page is not medical advice.

• USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy): caffeine per 100 g converted to an 8 fl oz cup (237 g). Black tea brewed 20 mg (about 47 per cup), green tea brewed 12 mg (about 28), oolong brewed 16 mg (about 38), decaf black tea brewed 1 mg (about 2), herbal and chamomile tea 0, drip coffee 40 mg (about 95), espresso 212 mg (about 64 per 1 oz shot), decaf coffee 1 mg (about 2).
• Mayo Clinic caffeine chart: brewed black tea 48 mg, brewed green tea 29 mg, decaf black tea 2 mg, brewed coffee 96 mg, espresso 63 mg per 1 oz.
• Chin JM et al., "Caffeine content of brewed teas," Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 2008: 20 commercial teas; white, green, and black teas 14 to 61 mg per 6 or 8 oz serving with no trend by type; decaf under 12 mg; no caffeine detected in herbal teas.
• Kochman J et al., "Health Benefits and Chemical Composition of Matcha Green Tea: A Review," Molecules, 2021: 18.9 to 44.4 mg caffeine per gram of matcha.
• FDA: 400 mg a day for healthy adults.
• What we did not do: lab-test the products on this page. Figures describe tea types, not specific boxes.