Does Fruit Tea Have Caffeine, Sugar or Calories?

Three questions come up more than any others about fruit tea. Here are the short answers first, then the detail, because the honest answer to each one depends on what is actually in the cup.

The short answers

• Caffeine: a fruit tea made only of fruit, flowers or herbs has none. A "fruit tea" that contains black, green or white tea leaves does.
• Sugar: it depends on whether sugar is added. The fruit itself contains natural sugars; a blend with no added sugar only has what the fruit brings.
• Calories: an unsweetened fruit infusion is a very low-calorie drink. Eating the rehydrated fruit adds the calories of a small portion of fruit.

Caffeine

Caffeine in tea comes from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Fruit contains none, and neither do the flowers most fruit teas use, such as hibiscus. So the real question is whether the blend contains tea leaves. Check the ingredients for black tea, green tea, white tea, matcha, yerba mate or guayusa: any of these means caffeine.

Every Moosa blend is dried fruit and flowers only, so there is no caffeine in any of them, and nothing has been decaffeinated. More on that in our guide to caffeine-free fruit tea.

Sugar

There are two kinds of sugar to think about. Added sugar is what a manufacturer puts in: sugar, syrups, honey or sweetened fruit pieces. Natural sugar is what the fruit already contains. Drying concentrates the fruit’s natural sugar, and a little of it dissolves into the water as it steeps, which is why a fruit infusion tastes gently sweet with nothing added.

On a packaged drink or tea, the Nutrition Facts panel lists Added Sugars on its own line, which makes this easy to check. Bottled "fruit tea" drinks and fruit-flavoured iced teas are where added sugar usually shows up. Moosa blends have no added sugar.

Calories

A fruit infusion brewed in plain water with nothing added is a very low-calorie drink: most of what the fruit contains, including its fibre and much of its sugar, stays in the fruit rather than in the water. The exact figure varies by blend and by how long you steep it, so the number to trust is the one on the box, not a general estimate.

Two things change the picture. Sweetener, if you add it, brings its own calories. And if you eat the rehydrated fruit, which we recommend, you are eating a small portion of dried fruit, with the calories, natural sugar and fibre that come with it. That is still far less than most of the drinks it replaces, and a lot more filling.

So is fruit tea healthy?

It is a caffeine-free, unsweetened drink made of fruit, which makes it a good everyday swap for soda, juice drinks or a late coffee, and an easy way to drink more water. It is not a detox, it does not burn fat and it does not treat anything, whatever a label says. For a side-by-side view, see fruit tea vs juice, coffee and soda, and for the longer take, fruit tea benefits (without the caffeine).

Where to start

The Variety Pack has all four Moosa blends, so you can find your favourite. More questions? Our fruit tea FAQ covers brewing, storage and ingredients.