Herbal Tea Around the World: 12 Regional Favourites

Moroccan mint tea — atay — is one of the most recognisable beverage rituals on earth. Green tea is brewed with a generous fistful of fresh spearmint and sweetened boldly with sugar, then poured from a long-spouted teapot held high above the glass to create a froth.

It is served in small, ornate glasses, never mugs. Refusal is considered impolite; three glasses is the traditional expected minimum. The ritual is a form of hospitality as much as a drink.

At home, you can approximate the flavour with spearmint and a few fresh leaves steeped in hot water — though the theatre is harder to replicate. Our spearmint tea guide covers the herb in detail.

Egypt's national herbal drink is karkadé — a deep crimson infusion of dried hibiscus calyces. Drunk hot in winter and served over ice in summer, it is ruby-bright, tart and refreshing with a flavour reminiscent of cranberry and pomegranate.

Street stalls in Cairo serve it sweet and cold from large glass jugs. Homes brew it strong and adjust sweetness to taste. It has been drunk in the region for centuries and was reportedly favoured in ancient times along the Nile.

Hibiscus is one of the most globally distributed herbal drinks — see our hibiscus tea guide for brewing tips.

Rooibos ("red bush") grows exclusively in the Cederberg mountains of the Western Cape. Indigenous Khoisan people harvested and brewed the needle-like leaves long before the plant gained international attention in the twentieth century.

The flavour is smooth, slightly sweet and woody with a warm, honey-like character. It is caffeine-free, naturally sweet and brewed just like regular tea — steeped in boiling water for five to seven minutes. South Africans traditionally drink it with milk and sugar.

It is now one of the most popular herbal teas worldwide. Our rooibos tea guide covers its full story.

Mugicha is a roasted barley infusion popular throughout Japan, Korea and China. In summer, it is brewed cold and served in pitchers as an everyday drink — cooling, slightly bitter and with a deep, toasty aroma reminiscent of roasted grain.

It is naturally caffeine-free and commonly given to children. The flavour is earthy and nutty, warming in winter as a hot drink, refreshing in summer cold. Barley kernels are simply roasted until dark and then steeped in cold or hot water.

Mugicha illustrates how grain-based infusions bridge the gap between tea and something closer to a grain tisane — a different tradition but equally beloved.

Kadha is not a single drink but a category — a spiced herbal decoction made by simmering combinations of ginger, tulsi (holy basil), black pepper, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom in water. Every household has its own version, and every season may call for a different blend.

It is warming, pungent and deeply aromatic — considerably bolder than most Western herbal teas. Kadha sits at the intersection of culinary spice and Ayurvedic herbal tradition. It is typically made fresh, drunk warm and sweetened with honey or jaggery.

Our guide to tulsi tea profiles one of kadha's most important botanicals.

Technically a caffeinated drink from the holly family rather than a herbal infusion, mate is culturally inseparable from the broader tradition of shared botanical drinks across South America. It is drunk from a hollowed gourd through a metal straw (bombilla) that filters the leaves.

The flavour is intensely grassy, bitter and earthy with a prolonged, clean bitterness unlike coffee or tea. Mate is drunk communally — one gourd is prepared and passed around a group, refilled with hot water repeatedly. It is a social ritual as much as a drink.

In the Andean region, muña (a strongly aromatic mint relative) is also brewed as a herbal tisane and prized locally for its flavour.

In Ethiopia, geshir is made from the dried outer skin and peel of fresh ginger — the part that would otherwise be discarded. The skins are dried and then brewed as a warming spiced infusion with coffee-like ceremony and social significance.

The flavour is lighter than a full ginger root decoction but still warmly spiced, with gentle citrus notes from the skin. It is drunk throughout Ethiopia and Eritrea, often sweetened with honey.

Geshir is a beautiful example of zero-waste culinary wisdom embedded in herbal tradition. For ginger root brewing, our ginger tea guide covers fresh and dried approaches.

Germany has one of the world's strongest cultures of herbal tea consumption. Kräutertee — simply "herb tea" — encompasses chamomile, peppermint, linden blossom, elderflower, lemon balm and dozens of other botanicals, brewed as domestic medicine and daily pleasure.

Herbal teas are sold in every supermarket, pharmacy and health food shop. Specific blends are associated with specific moments: chamomile for evenings, peppermint after meals, linden blossom (linden flower tea, or Lindenblütentee) for particularly cosy winter evenings.

The German tradition is particularly strong on single-herb infusions of quality loose herb — not blended tea bags. Our chamomile tea guide covers one of the tradition's icons.

Agua de jamaica is Mexico's answer to hibiscus — a cold, refreshing drink made by steeping dried hibiscus calyces in water, sweetening generously and serving over ice. It is ubiquitous at markets, taquerías and family meals, typically drunk as a light and vivid alternative to water.

The preparation is simpler and sweeter than the Egyptian karkadé — brewed cold or at room temperature rather than hot, with a lighter infusion. The colour is spectacular: deep magenta that brightens with lime juice.

The same botanical, prepared differently for a completely different flavour experience — a reminder that method shapes character as much as the herb itself.

Iranian herb and flower drink culture centres on aromatic waters and floral infusions. Rose water — golab — appears in drinks, desserts and religious offerings. A weak infusion of dried rose petals brewed with saffron threads makes a perfumed, golden drink served at celebrations and as a mark of hospitality.

Dried limes (limu omani) are also boiled to make a dark, sour and intensely fragrant infusion quite unlike anything in the Western herbal tradition. The result is smoky, sour and deeply aromatic — used in drinks and cooking alike.

Iranian botanical drink culture is one of the most sophisticated and fragrant in the world, and relatively underexplored in the global herbal tea conversation. Our rose tea guide touches on some of this tradition.

Chrysanthemum flower tea (jú huā chá) has been drunk in China for over a thousand years. Dried chrysanthemum blossoms are steeped in hot water to produce a pale golden, lightly floral infusion with a clean, faintly honey-like sweetness.

It is often drunk in summer and associated with cooling in Traditional Chinese Herbalism. Wolfberries (goji) are sometimes added. The drink is caffeine-free and considered gentle enough for daily drinking at any time of day.

Chrysanthemum tea is readily available in Chinese supermarkets worldwide as whole dried blossoms — an easy and beautiful introduction to Chinese floral tea culture. Our herbal tea history guide covers the broader context.

Mountain tea — tsai tou vounou — is made from dried stems, leaves and flowers of Sideritis (ironwort), a plant that grows wild at high altitude around the Mediterranean. In Greece, it is virtually a cultural institution: golden-brown, faintly floral, slightly bitter and deeply warming.

It is traditionally brewed by simmering the whole dried stem in water for several minutes, strained and served with honey and lemon. Greek mountain tea has a long folk history and is closely associated with winter warmth, family kitchens and a slow pace of life.

It remains one of Europe's most characterful and least internationally known herbal drinks — and one well worth seeking out. Use our Herbal Tea Finder to discover more regional favourites.