Oolong is a traditional Chinese tea. It doesn’t relate to neither a green tea nor black tea; it forms a separate tea category. Oolong is made from the Camellia sinensis plant, which is also used to grow black and green tea. The main difference is how each of them is processed. One more thing people want to know about this variety of tea is that whether it contains caffeine or not. In this article we want to answer the question "Is oolong tea caffeinated?" and tell you more about this type of tea.

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Is oolong tea caffeinated?

Generally, yes. There are a few contradictory assessments concerning caffeine in oolong that may easily confuse people. It is because caffeine content in oolong tea may change depending on many factors. Caffeine content is mainly determined by the following ones:

1. Steeping time of the tea.
2. Time of the year the tea leaves were harvested.
3. Temperature of the water used for brewing.
4. Tea processing
5. Amount of times the tea leaves were brewed

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Oolong tea VS Black tea and green tea

If we arrange them in descending order of caffeine content, it will be the following: black tea, oolong tea, green tea. So it turns out that usually oolong is in the middle. 250 ml of black tea contains nearly 45-70 mg of caffeine per cup. While oolong may have the caffeine content ranging from 10mg to 102mg per cup. Green tea has the lowest caffeine content which is equal 20-45mg. Coffee, for instance, has about 90-110mg per one cup.

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How do different factors affect caffeine content

1. Steeping time of the tea.

The longer you steep any tea, the more caffeine it will contain. Oolong tea that is brewed for 5 minutes will contain much more caffeine than the one brewed just for 1 minute. It is usually recommended brewing tea for 3 minutes to get the best flavor and medium caffeine content. The more precise amount of caffeine is varied depending on the type of oolong you brew.

2. Time of the year the tea leaves were harvested.

Tea harvested in summer and autumn has the most caffeine, while tea harvested in spring and winter – the least.

3. Temperature of the water

This factor has a significant influence on caffeine content. Boiling water at 100 °C results in more than twice as much caffeine as water at 25-30°C. This way you can control and regulate the caffeine content in your oolong tea.

4. Tea processing.

Tea that is aged longer during processing has less caffeine. Take it into consideration how oolong was processed when choosing it.

5. Amount of times the tea was brewed.

You can brew oolong tea several times. The first cup of tea will have the most amount caffeine, and the next ones will have less. The third cup of tea contains less than half the caffeine of the first cup. To lower caffeine content, people brew the first cup for just a few seconds, dump it, and brew a second cup for longer.

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