If you are weighing up how much liquorice tea per day is sensible, the honest answer is a little more cautious than for most herbal cups. There is no caffeine ceiling to think about, because a plain infusion of liquorice root is a caffeine-free tisane, but real liquorice root carries a natural compound called glycyrrhizin. That is why many people keep true liquorice tea to roughly one modest cup a day, and go easy rather than drinking large amounts of it every single day without a break. Responses vary from person to person, and this is general information rather than medical advice.
How much liquorice tea per day: the short answer
For a tea made from genuine liquorice root, a reasonable everyday pattern is about one modest cup a day, leaning toward smaller or weaker cups rather than several strong mugs. No caffeine limit applies here, because pure liquorice root is not a caffeinated leaf. The reason to keep an eye on your liquorice tea daily amount is instead that compound in the root, glycyrrhizin, which gives the drink its strikingly sweet, syrupy, faintly aniseed-like taste and is the main reason heavy, continuous daily intake is worth moderating. So the amount is not really about staying awake or overdoing caffeine; it is about not leaning on a lot of real liquorice root, day after day. If you want the wider story of how people enjoy and use this root, that belongs on our liquorice tea benefits guide. Here we are focused only on amounts.
The key reason to go easy
Glycyrrhizin is the short explanation for why liquorice sits apart from gentler herbal cups. In real liquorice root it can build up if you drink a lot of it day after day, and larger continuous intake seems to affect some people more than others. Anyone with high blood pressure, heart or kidney concerns, low potassium, or who is pregnant has good reason to be especially careful, and to talk it through with their own healthcare provider before making liquorice tea a daily habit. None of this is a diagnosis or a treatment plan, and responses genuinely vary; it is simply why "one modest cup" is a more sensible starting point here than with many other herbs. For a sense of how a milder herbal infusion compares, our guide to how much chamomile tea per day is a useful contrast, because chamomile does not carry the same reason to cap it.
A rough daily guide
The table below is a hedged, general starting point rather than a rule, and it is built around real liquorice-root tea. Glycyrrhizin is the reason the amounts stay small, so treat these as gentle patterns and adjust to how you feel and to any advice from your own healthcare provider.
| Rough pattern | What it looks like | Things to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| A light, typical cup | About one modest cup of real liquorice-root tea in a day | A reasonable everyday-to-occasional amount for many people; glycyrrhizin is why "modest" matters |
| Go easy | Smaller or weaker cups, and not necessarily every day | A gentler pattern if you drink it often or feel sensitive to it |
| Avoid large daily amounts | Several strong cups of real liquorice-root tea, day after day | The pattern most worth avoiding, because glycyrrhizin adds up; check with a healthcare provider if you are unsure |
Not every "liquorice" tea is the same
Here is the twist that changes the whole picture: many teas sold as "liquorice" (spelled "licorice" in some places, but the same thing) actually lean on anise, star anise, fennel or other sweet, aniseed-like herbs, with little or no real liquorice root in the blend. Because that aniseed flavour is so recognisable, a tea can taste convincingly of liquorice while carrying very little glycyrrhizin at all. If your reason for moderating is the glycyrrhizin, the practical move is to check the ingredients list. A blend whose first ingredient is real liquorice root deserves the cautious "one modest cup" approach; a fruity or aniseed blend that only lists a touch of liquorice for flavour is a different, gentler thing, and the daily-amount question relaxes accordingly. Labels vary between brands, so read yours rather than assuming, and when in doubt treat it as if it does contain real root.
The caffeine caveat: check the base
One more label detail matters when you are deciding how often to drink licorice tea. A pure root tisane is caffeine-free, but plenty of "liquorice" teas are actually built on a base of real green or black tea with liquorice added for sweetness. Those blends would carry caffeine from the tea leaf, even though the liquorice root itself does not, so a "liquorice" tea can end up being a caffeinated drink after all. If caffeine is something you track, that base changes the picture entirely. We dig into this properly in does liquorice tea have caffeine, so head there if the caffeine question is your main concern.
Why the pure herbal version has no caffeine cap
The reason a plain liquorice infusion sidesteps any caffeine limit is simple: it is made from the root of a plant (Glycyrrhiza glabra), not from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, the plant behind green, black, white and oolong tea. Anything brewed from a root, flower, seed or bark instead of the tea plant is a tisane, or herbal "tea", and does not contain caffeine unless something caffeinated is deliberately added. If that distinction is new to you, our explainer on what is herbal tea walks through it. So with a genuine liquorice-root tisane, how much you drink is guided by glycyrrhizin and by taste, not by caffeine at all.
A light brewing note
Real liquorice-root tea is easy to make and famously sweet. A little cut, dried root goes a long way: steep a small amount in just-off-the-boil water for several minutes, or gently simmer it for a slightly stronger, more syrupy cup. Because the sweetness is so intense, most people find that using less root than they expect is plenty, which happens to keep the cup on the modest side without any effort. Taste as you go and stop when it is pleasant rather than pushing for a very strong brew, and remember that a paler cup uses less of the root that gives you a reason to moderate in the first place. Some people add a slice of ginger or a little mint to round out the sweetness, and a shorter steep on a second cup is an easy way to keep the day's total gentle if you want more than one.
Safety and the bottom line
To bring it together: with real liquorice-root tea, about one modest cup a day is a sensible ceiling for many people, and drinking large amounts continuously is the habit worth avoiding, because of glycyrrhizin rather than caffeine. If a "liquorice" blend is built on green or black tea it may also carry caffeine, and if it is really an anise blend the caution eases, so the label is worth a glance either way. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, taking any medication, or managing blood pressure, heart, kidney or potassium concerns, treat liquorice with extra care and ask your own healthcare provider what is right for you. This is general information, responses vary from person to person, and it is not medical advice.