15 Most popular flavoured teas

Tea is a much-loved beverage the world over, and these days, it comes in a range of enticing flavours to suit every palate. Flavoured teas are beverages made by infusing traditional tea leaves or herbs with added ingredients such as flowers, spices, fruits or natural flavourings to enhance taste and aroma. 

This kind of tea doesn’t have a single inventor or invention date. It developed gradually in different parts of the world over centuries.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

The earliest known flavoured or ‘scented’ teas came from China, where drinking tea started over 2,000 years ago (from the plant Camellia sinensis, which is the common tea bush).

By the time of the Tang Dynasty (7^th – 10^th century) and especially the Song Dynasty (10^th – 13^th  century), Chinese tea makers were already:

• adding flowers like jasmine and osmanthus


• mixing herbs, spices and citrus peels with tea leaves


• scenting tea by storing it with fragrant blossoms

... which means that flavoured tea in its earliest form also originated in China.

POPULAR TEAS: ORIGINS & FLAVOURS

1. EARL GREY TEA

• Origin: United Kingdom


• Ingredients: Black tea, bergamot oil

2. MASALA CHAI

• Origin: India


• Ingredients: Black tea, milk, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves

3. JASMINE TEA

• Origin: China


• Ingredients: Green tea, jasmine flowers

4. MINT TEA

• Origin: Morocco


• Ingredients: Green tea, mint leaves, sugar

5. KASHMIRI KAHWA

• Origin: Kashmir


• Ingredients: Green tea, saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, almonds

6. THAI TEA

• Origin: Thailand


• Ingredients: Black tea, vanilla, spices, condensed milk

7. LEMON TEA

• Origin: China


• Ingredients: Black or green tea, lemon, honey or sugar

8. PEACH ICED TEA

• Origin: United States


• Ingredients: Black tea, peach flavour, sugar, ice

9. HIBISCUS TEA

• Origin: Egypt


• Ingredients: Hibiscus flowers, water, sweetener

10. BUBBLE TEA

• Origin: Taiwan


• Ingredients: Tea, milk, sugar syrup, tapioca pearls

11. GREEN TEA

• Origin: China


• Ingredients: Unoxidized tea leaves, water

12. MATCHA TEA

• Origin: Japan


• Ingredients: Powdered green tea leaves, water

13. CHAMOMILE TEA

• Origin: Egypt


• Ingredients: Chamomile flowers, water

14. OOLONG TEA

• Origin: China


• Ingredients: Partially oxidized tea leaves, water

15. HIBISCUS ICED TEA

• Origin: Egypt


• Ingredients: Hibiscus petals, water, ice, sugar or honey