Spearmint tea is completely caffeine-free. It’s an herbal tea (technically called a tisane) made from the leaves of the Mentha spicata plant, not from the Camellia sinensis plant that produces black, green, white, and oolong teas. Since caffeine occurs naturally in Camellia sinensis but not in mint plants, pure spearmint tea contains zero milligrams of caffeine per cup.
Why Herbal Teas Differ From “True” Teas
The word “tea” gets applied to just about any hot drink made by steeping plant material in water, but only beverages brewed from the Camellia sinensis plant contain caffeine naturally. Black tea has roughly 47 mg per cup, green tea around 28 mg, and white tea about 6 to 25 mg depending on how it’s processed. Herbal teas like spearmint, chamomile, rooibos, and hibiscus come from entirely different plants and carry no caffeine at all.
This makes spearmint tea a practical swap if you’re sensitive to caffeine, trying to cut back, or looking for something to drink in the evening without disrupting sleep. It has a naturally sweet, mild mint flavor that works well both hot and iced.
Watch Out for Blends
Pure spearmint tea is always caffeine-free, but some commercial blends mix spearmint leaves with green tea, black tea, or matcha for flavor. These blends will contain caffeine. Check the ingredient list on the box: if you see “green tea,” “black tea,” “Camellia sinensis,” or “matcha” listed alongside spearmint, that product has caffeine. A box listing only spearmint (Mentha spicata) or “spearmint leaves” is safe for a caffeine-free cup.
How Spearmint Compares to Peppermint
Peppermint tea is also caffeine-free, so either mint works if you’re avoiding caffeine. The difference is in flavor and chemistry. Peppermint’s essential oil is dominated by menthol (about 47%) and menthone (about 26%), which give it that sharp, cooling bite. Spearmint’s essential oil is built around carvone (about 52%) and contains very little menthol, producing a softer, sweeter taste. If peppermint feels too intense, spearmint is the gentler option.
Potential Health Benefits
Beyond being caffeine-free, spearmint tea has drawn research interest for its effects on hormones. A clinical study gave women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) spearmint tea or spearmint extract daily for 30 days. Total testosterone dropped from 0.81 to 0.62 ng/mL on average, and free testosterone fell from 5.12 to 3.64 pg/mL. That said, a larger meta-analysis combining multiple trials found that the effect on testosterone wasn’t statistically significant across all studies, so the evidence is promising but not settled.
Spearmint and spearmint extracts hold Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status from the FDA for use in beverages and food products. A safety study testing up to 900 mg of dried spearmint extract per day for 90 days found no adverse effects on hormone panels, blood chemistry, or vital signs. For context, most people drinking one to two cups of brewed spearmint tea daily are consuming far less than that amount.
How to Brew It
Spearmint leaves are more delicate than black or green tea, so you don’t want boiling water. Heat your water to around 190°F (88°C), which is just before a full rolling boil. Steep the leaves for 3 to 5 minutes. Shorter steeping gives a lighter, more subtle flavor; longer steeping pulls out more of the aromatic oils and creates a stronger cup. Because there’s no caffeine to become bitter, over-steeping spearmint is more forgiving than over-steeping green or black tea, though it can taste slightly grassy if left too long.
Fresh spearmint leaves work just as well as dried. Use about a tablespoon of fresh leaves (or one teaspoon of dried) per cup. If you grow spearmint at home, the plant is famously easy to maintain and spreads aggressively, so you’ll rarely run short.