Chamomile tea

Chamomile tea is a herbal infusion — a tisane — made by steeping the dried daisy-like flowerheads of chamomile in hot water. Crucially it is not made from the tea plant Camellia sinensis at all, so unlike black, green or oolong tea it contains no caffeine whatsoever; "tea" here just means a hot water infusion. The two plants sold as chamomile are German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) and the lower-growing Roman or English chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile), both members of the daisy family Asteraceae with the same small white-petalled, yellow-domed flowers. The cup is pale straw to gold, light-bodied and gently sweet, with a soft, hay-like floral aroma and a distinct note of apple — the word chamomile comes from the Greek for "earth apple." It is one of the most widely drunk herbal teas in the world, taken above all in the evening as a calming, soothing drink to unwind and help with sleep.