Should a tisane be called Herbal tea or tisane
Tea as i understand is anything that should have camellia sinuses but herbal teas are in essence tisanes as in most or all cases they do not have camellia sinuses.
If a herbal tea is called tisane would it appeal to tea drinkers or would it be more suited for non tea drinkers. Does the name matter is what my question really is ?
Well technically a tisane is ‘an infusion of dried or fresh leaves or flowers’ so you could say that all teas are tisanes because they contain the dried leaves of a camellia sinuses plant.
Where as tea specifically is ‘a hot beverage made from the leaves of a camellia sinuses plant’.
Ergo by calling herbal blends tea when they do not contain any camellia sinuses they are advertising falsely if you want to get down to the technicality of it. But really I wouldn’t say it mattered very much. Plus most hot beverages list their ingredients so you can see for yourself whether it contains camellia sinuses or not ie if that blend is a ‘true’ tea. :)
Tea is just that for me…. nothing wrong with herbal tisanes though.
Personally I believe everything is just called teas for ease of purchase by the consumer. Imagine if you had a teas, tisanes and coffee aisle in the supermarket.
Tisane, what the fuck is that…?
Best to just call it herbal tea as is the common use, 90% of people (especially non/casual-tea drinkers) will have no idea what tisane means.
Although if it got jumped on by the hipster cool crowd we could have a chain of tisane bars or shops
Its tea if its got tea in it
Keep it simple
Well, in french we use the word “tisane” to refer to herbal teas. Herbal tea would translate to “infusion d’herbes” or something like that. For me, there isn’t any difference between these two phrasings.
The word “tisane” is very commonly used in my language to refer to non camellia sinensis infusions while the word “thé” (tea) is for camellia sinensis infusions. We never use the word “thé” for herbals
So I guess maybe people started calling their products tisanes to make them appear more high-end and intriguing to english speaking customers :P
I refer to tea when it’s actual a tea, rooibos or herbal tea to anything else.
tisane, to me seems a fashion word, it’s never used in Dutch anyway. Most say herbal tea, and think that pretty much covers it.
We prefer the term ‘herbal infusion’, but ‘herbal tea’ is just as widely used in our parts. Personally I don’t refer to herbal infusions as ‘tea’, that is reserved for camellia sinensis (the tea plant).
Now what really irks me is when people ask for a ‘chai tea’….hahaha!
That really irks me as well… My first venture into loose leaf tea was almost ten years ago with a loose leaf chai.
Chai Tea is one of those that people seem to mind but doesn’t bother me. To me, the word ‘chai’ is to indicate the spices and flavourings and ‘tea’ indicates it has camellia sinensis. I know both words mean tea in many languages and cultures, but it is possible to get chai without camellia sinensis (with a rooibos base, or even just the spices) so adding the word tea can clarify a bit. Yes, it is redundant, but so many things are. :)
I am not sure why one would be bothered by someone using the term “chay.” I lived in Turkey for a year, and to everybody in that country, chay meant tea. Turkey uses their own style of Roman alphabet and the word is spelled “Cay” but one of their C’s (they have 2) “C” has a sort of comma at the bottom and that C is pronounced as a Ch. I have since learned that other languages also pronounced it chay. So I can only say, if it bothers you: get used to it or try to find out more about the person using it. I think the Russians say chai also — although I could be mistaken.
I usually call it herbal tea, but for blends of fruits/ herbs. And I call rooibos, honeybush, or anything with one herb or flower a tisane. Though herbal infusion sounds better.
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