Does mugwort tea have caffeine? No — a plain cup of mugwort tea is naturally caffeine-free. Mugwort tea is a herbal infusion, or tisane, brewed from the leaves of the mugwort plant (Artemisia vulgaris), not from the caffeinated tea plant Camellia sinensis. That single botanical fact is the whole reason your cup carries essentially no caffeine, and it is what this short guide unpacks.
Does mugwort tea have caffeine? The short answer
If you are asking is mugwort tea caffeine free, the answer is yes for a straight, single-ingredient brew. Mugwort tea is not really "tea" in the strict sense at all. True tea — green, black, white, oolong and the rest — comes from the leaves of one plant, Camellia sinensis, which produces caffeine as it grows. Mugwort is a completely different botanical, a leafy herb in the daisy family, so it never contained the compound in the first place.
Because of that, drinking mugwort tea does not add any meaningful caffeine to your day. It sits in the same broad family as chamomile, peppermint, rooibos and hibiscus: plant infusions that people reach for precisely when they want the ritual of a warm cup without the stimulant. For the full picture of what counts as a tisane and how the category works, see our explainer on what herbal tea is.
The word "tea" is the usual source of confusion. In everyday speech we call almost any hot infusion a "tea", so "mugwort tea", "chamomile tea" and "peppermint tea" all sound like they should behave the same way as the tea in a builder's mug. Botanically, though, only the Camellia sinensis drinks earn the caffeine. Once you separate the loose everyday label from the actual plant in the cup, whether mugwort tea has caffeine stops being a mystery.
Why herbal teas like mugwort have no caffeine
The reason comes down to the plant, not the brewing method. Caffeine is something the tea bush and a handful of other plants — coffee, cacao, yerba mate, guarana — manufacture naturally. Herbs like mugwort, mint and lemongrass simply are not among them. You can steep mugwort longer, use more leaf or pour hotter water, and you still will not "extract" caffeine that was never there to begin with.
This is the same logic that makes nearly every true herbal infusion a no-caffeine drink. If you want the wider explanation of which plants carry the compound and which do not, our guide to whether tea contains caffeine walks through the difference between real tea and tisanes, and our overview of caffeine-free tea covers the broader category that mugwort belongs to.
How much caffeine in mugwort tea?
Realistically, the caffeine in mugwort tea is negligible — close enough to zero that it is treated as caffeine-free. Unlike decaffeinated green or black tea, which still holds a small residual trace after processing, a pure mugwort infusion never had any caffeine to remove. The mugwort tea caffeine content of a plain cup is essentially nil.
The easiest way to see why is to line it up against genuine tea from the same kettle. Figures below are rough, per typical 240 ml (8 oz) cup, and vary with leaf, cut and steep time — treat them as ballpark, not precise measurements.
| Cup (about 240 ml / 8 oz) | Made from | Approximate caffeine |
|---|---|---|
| Mugwort herbal tea | Artemisia vulgaris (a herb) | Essentially none |
| Green tea | Camellia sinensis | Roughly 20-45 mg |
| Black tea | Camellia sinensis | Roughly 40-70 mg |
The contrast is the point: green and black tea sit in the tens of milligrams because they share the caffeinated tea plant, while a mugwort cup stays flat near zero because it does not. It is also worth separating "caffeine-free" from "decaffeinated". A decaf green or black tea started life as caffeinated and had most of that stripped out during processing, which is why a faint trace can remain. Mugwort never went through any of that — there was nothing to remove — so calling it caffeine-free is a description of the plant itself, not the result of a decaffeination step.
The one caveat: check blends that add real tea
There is a single situation where a "mugwort tea" could carry caffeine, and it is worth a glance at the label. Some products are not pure mugwort at all but blends — mugwort combined with green tea, black tea or yerba mate for flavor or as a base. In that case the caffeine is coming from the added true tea or mate, not from the mugwort itself, so the finished cup would no longer be caffeine-free.
This is easy to sort out: read the ingredient list. If mugwort is the only botanical listed, you can take it as caffeine-free. If you spot green tea, black tea, oolong or yerba mate in the mix, expect some caffeine and check any manufacturer note if you are trying to keep it out. When it just says "mugwort" or "mugwort leaf", you are almost certainly in caffeine-free territory — though blends vary, so the label is always the final word.
The same caution applies to loose herbal mixes sold under a wellness or "night-time" name, and to homemade blends where mugwort is only one ingredient among several. A herbal-only recipe stays caffeine-free no matter how many herbs it stacks together; it is specifically the addition of a Camellia sinensis tea or of mate that changes the answer. If in doubt, the presence or absence of those few caffeinated ingredients is the only thing you need to look for.
Who chooses mugwort tea, and when
Because it is caffeine-free, mugwort tea is one of the cups people often keep for the evening or for any time they would rather skip a stimulant — after dinner, in the afternoon, or simply as a warm drink that will not compete with coffee earlier in the day. It slots into the same "anytime" role as chamomile or peppermint for exactly that reason: no caffeine to plan around.
People are also drawn to mugwort for its distinctive, faintly bitter and herbaceous flavor, which is part of why it shows up in various tea traditions rather than as a mainstream supermarket brew. We are staying narrowly on the caffeine question here; if you are curious about the herb's flavor, background and traditional roles, that belongs in our companion piece on mugwort tea benefits and uses rather than this caffeine-focused explainer.
A light note on mugwort and safety
One thing to flag: mugwort is a herb that some people are advised to be cautious with, quite apart from the caffeine question. It is traditionally avoided during pregnancy, and because it belongs to the daisy (Asteraceae) family, it can be a concern for anyone sensitive to related plants such as ragweed. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking any medication, or have known plant allergies, it is worth checking with your own healthcare provider before adding mugwort tea to your routine.
This is general information, not medical advice, and individual responses vary — so treat the caffeine details above as the takeaway and leave anything health-related to a professional who knows your situation.