Fruit tea and herbal tea are not teas
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Tea refers to a hot infusion drink and stimulant prepared from the leaves and leaf buds, sometimes also the stems, of the tea plant.
According to the entry in the German Dictionary of the Brothers Grimm, the word tea was adopted into German from the Dutch thee in the 17th century. In countries that imported the leaves of the tea plant overland via northern China, on the other hand, the word was adopted after the High Chinese pronunciation tscha.
Since the early 18th century, the word tea has also been used for the infusion of dried constituents of other plants and refers not only to black and green tea, but also to herbal and fruit teas.
Deviating from the general usage, however, only leaves and infusions of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) may be called "tea" according to ISO standard 3720. Infusions of herbs, fruits or spices are considered "tea-like products" according to this standard.
