Several teas and herbal infusions taste noticeably sweet without any added sugar. The sweetest options include licorice root, honeybush, rooibos, and certain fruit-based herbal blends, all of which clock in at 0 to 3 calories per cup despite their sugary taste. If you’re trying to cut back on sweeteners or just want something pleasant to sip plain, these are worth exploring.
Licorice Root Tea
Licorice root is arguably the sweetest tea you can brew without adding anything to it. The plant contains a compound called glycyrrhizin, which is roughly 50 times sweeter than table sugar. A cup of licorice root tea has an unmistakable, almost candy-like sweetness with warm, slightly anise-flavored undertones. It works well on its own or blended with other herbs, and you’ll find it as an ingredient in many “naturally sweet” tea blends for exactly this reason.
There is a catch. Glycyrrhizin can raise blood pressure and lower potassium levels if consumed in large amounts over time. The European Union’s Scientific Committee on Food set an upper limit of 100 mg of glycyrrhizin per day. One study found that as little as 1 to 5 grams of actual licorice root per day is considered safe for most healthy adults. If you’re drinking one or two cups a day, you’re likely fine, but it’s not a tea to consume in large quantities every single day, especially if you have blood pressure concerns.
Honeybush and Rooibos
Honeybush, a South African herbal tea closely related to rooibos, gets its name from the honey-like scent of its flowers. Brewed on its own, it has a mild, rounded sweetness with notes of dried fruit and honey. It’s caffeine-free and naturally low in tannins, which means it won’t turn bitter even if you steep it for a long time.
Rooibos (sometimes labeled “red bush tea”) is subtler in sweetness than honeybush, but still noticeably smoother and sweeter than most unsweetened black or green teas. Its flavor leans slightly nutty and vanilla-like, with just enough natural sweetness that many people drink it plain. Both honeybush and rooibos have essentially zero calories per cup and no caffeine, making them good options for evening drinking or for people sensitive to stimulants.
Chamomile and Other Floral Teas
Chamomile tea has a gentle, apple-like sweetness that most people notice right away. At about 2 calories per cup with 0 grams of sugar, its sweetness comes from aromatic compounds rather than actual sugars. It’s mild enough that it won’t overwhelm other flavors, which is why chamomile pairs so well with honey or vanilla in blends.
Other floral teas with natural sweetness include chrysanthemum, osmanthus, and lavender. Chrysanthemum tea, popular across East Asia, has a light, honey-like flavor when brewed from whole dried flowers. Osmanthus flowers add a fruity, apricot-scented sweetness and are often blended with green or oolong tea in Chinese tea culture.
Fruit-Based Herbal Infusions
Dried fruit teas made from ingredients like apple, berry, mango, or peach pieces are among the sweetest herbal infusions you can find. These release small amounts of natural fruit sugars into the water, which is why hibiscus-fruit blends taste noticeably sweeter than plain herb teas. Hibiscus tea on its own has about 3 calories and 0.3 grams of sugar per cup, so even fruit-based blends remain extremely low-calorie. The sweetness you perceive is often stronger than the sugar content suggests, because fruity and tart flavors trick your palate into registering more sweetness.
Pure hibiscus by itself is more tart than sweet, closer to cranberry juice in character. If you want sweetness from a hibiscus tea, look for blends that include apple pieces, rosehip, or berries alongside the hibiscus flowers.
Roasted Grain Teas
Roasted buckwheat tea (called sobacha in Japanese and memil-cha in Korean) has a toasty, caramel-like sweetness that surprises many first-time drinkers. The sweet flavor comes from compounds created during roasting, including one called maltol and another with a distinct caramel character. Alongside those, a family of nutty, cocoa-like aroma compounds round out the flavor into something that tastes almost like a dessert drink despite containing zero sugar and zero calories.
Roasted barley tea (mugicha) is similar, with a malty, slightly sweet grain flavor. Both are caffeine-free and extremely popular as everyday drinks in Japan and Korea, often served cold in summer. If you like the idea of a naturally sweet tea but don’t enjoy floral or fruity flavors, grain teas are an excellent alternative.
Chinese Sweet Tea
There’s actually a plant called “sweet tea” (Lithocarpus polystachyus) native to southern China that has been used for centuries as a naturally sweet beverage. Its sweetness comes from compounds called dihydrochalcones, which create a clean, sugar-like taste. This tea is harder to find outside of China but can be ordered from specialty tea vendors. It has been studied for potential blood sugar-regulating effects in animal models, which is an interesting contrast for a tea that tastes so sweet.
Stevia Leaf Tea
Dried stevia leaves can be steeped in hot water to make a powerfully sweet tea. The sweetness comes from compounds in the leaves that are 200 to 400 times sweeter than sugar, so a tiny amount goes a long way. Stevia leaf tea has zero calories and doesn’t raise blood sugar. The downside is that many people notice a lingering aftertaste that can taste slightly bitter or metallic, especially if you use too many leaves. Start with just a pinch of dried leaf per cup and adjust from there. Stevia leaves also work well added to other teas as a natural sweetener rather than brewed on their own.
True Teas That Taste Sweet
Not all naturally sweet teas are herbal. Several varieties made from actual tea leaves (Camellia sinensis) have a pronounced sweetness when brewed correctly. White tea, particularly Silver Needle and White Peony, has a delicate honeydew-melon sweetness with almost no bitterness. Light oolong teas, especially Taiwanese varieties like Ali Shan or Jin Xuan (“milk oolong”), can taste buttery and sweet with floral notes.
The key with true teas is water temperature. White tea should be brewed at 175 to 180°F, and oolong at around 195°F. Water that’s too hot extracts more tannins and bitter compounds, masking the natural sweetness. Shorter steeping times also help. If you’ve tried white or oolong tea and found it bland or bitter, the water was probably too hot.
Calories and Blood Sugar
Most naturally sweet herbal teas have between 0 and 3 calories per cup, with negligible sugar content. Plain tea of any kind does not break a fast and won’t meaningfully affect your daily calorie count. The sweetness you taste in these teas comes primarily from aromatic compounds, not from sugar molecules, which is why the calorie counts stay so low. For people monitoring blood sugar, licorice root and stevia leaf are the two worth paying attention to: licorice can affect blood pressure and mineral balance, while stevia has no known blood sugar impact.