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Smoking tea leaves can be an inexpensive way to replace an unhealthy habit like nicotine.
However, you should transition from a bad habit, like smoking, to a healthier habit, like drinking tea.
Why Smoking is Addicting
Every day, thousands of people attempt to stop smoking tobacco, but very few manage to stay on track with the commitment. The body’s call for nicotine can become too much to bear.
Experts say the effect of smoking tobacco cigarettes lights up dopamine receptors in the brain and body, causing a “feel-good” sensation that fades rapidly.
Dopamine is the same neurotransmitter responsible for eliciting the same high as heroin and other opiates. No wonder it’s so hard to stop smoking.
However, stopping smoking with a cessation product improves your chances of quitting. There are dozens of cessation products out there, and choosing the right one will help you with the challenge of stopping your habit.
What if we told you a green tea cigarette could help you quit smoking?
Can You Smoke Tea?
When most of us think about tea, we imagine a steaming cup in the morning to start our day or one in the evening to wind down.

Chances are you never thought smoking tea leaves was an option. It might surprise you to learn that Vietnamese culture embraced smoking green tea more than a few decades ago. [legitimate sources are scarce in this area, but here a relevant Quora post]
That’s right; a green tea cigarette is a real thing.
Smoking green tea can help you kick your cigarette addiction, replacing the role of normal cigarettes in your life. While green tea is a popular choice for herbal smoke, there are plenty of other tea strains that offer health benefits.
Why do People Smoke Tea?
People smoke tea for the same reasons they smoke cigarettes. When we start smoking, most of us do it for the temporary calming effect it has on our body and mind. It’s when the habit entrenches itself that it starts to produce more anxiety than pleasure. It’s at this stage that many smokers should start to think about quitting.
Cigarettes contain a chemical compound cocktail of more than 7,000 harmful ingredients. Many of the toxins remain unstudied by the health sciences, thanks to clever lobbying by “Big Tobacco.”
Herbal tea smoking blends could provide the same cognitive enhancement and mild relaxation qualities as traditional cigarettes, without the added toxicity.
There are plenty of other advantages of smoking herb blends over regular cigarettes.
- Mild Pain Relief
- Lower Your Anxiety
- Boost Brain Function
- Enhance Metabolic Rate
- A Safer Cigarette
- Energy Boost from Caffeine
What are the Best Teas Which You can Smoke?
Here are three of the most popular teas for smoking and the smoking qualities you can expect from these strains.
Earl Grey Tea
Earl Grey is a medium smoke, smooth and similar to pipe tobacco.
Green Tea
Go green with a light smoke that relaxes the mind and body, thanks to the amino acid L-theanine. The tea provides a relaxing sensation with mild pain relief.
Black Tea
Black tea is harsh on the throat and similar to raw tobacco.

How to Smoke Tea?
Loose tea typically contains the whole unbroken tea leaves. Teabags contain low grade teas, like fannings and dust. Whole leaves are the better option for a pleasant dried herb smoking experience.
If you want to try smoking some tea, all you need are the rolling basics. Grab some rolling papers, a rolling machine, some filters, and a filler herb. Beginners should consider mixing herbs into the tea for a blended cigarette.
The consistency of the leaves was difficult to roll, but I managed. All in all, the smoke of the two black teas was smooth but heavy, kind of like pipe tobacco. The tea bag made me a fairly lightheaded. They were both aromatic and the smokiness of the lapsang souchong especially reminded me of tobacco. The tea didn’t burn very well due to uneven leaf size, moisture content, etc.
Jordan Hardin’s Experience – Tea 4:20 Edition : Smoking Tea
Herbs like damiana and lavender make ideal additions to your herbal cigarette. You can get a better smoke experience with relevant base herbs or flavoring herbs..
Take some teal leaves and crush them into looser pieces with a similar to shredded tobacco. Take a thin rolling paper (preferably hemp-based), and roll the tea like you would a normal tobacco cigarette.
Smoking Tea FAQ
Q: Is Smoking Tea Legal?
A: Tea is not contraband and outlawed like other narcotics, and even cannabis is becoming legal at a state level across the US. You can consume any strain, any way you like, without legal consequences.
However, if you’re smoking in public places, you’ll have to comply with local legislation. Laws applying to second-hand smoke will still apply to you, even when smoking tea.
Q: Is smoking tea addictive?
A: There is no nicotine in herbal tea cigarettes, and they have no addictive properties. Therefore, it’s hard to form a habit around tea cigarettes that’s hard to break. You can step away from smoking tea without experiencing any adverse side effects.
Q: Can smoking tea get you high?
A: Some users claim smoking green tea produces a relaxing effect, but we could not find reports that tea cause a head high similar to cannabis.
Q: Is smoking tea bad for you?
A: If you’re smoking anything, it means drawing smoke into your lungs. Regardless of the substrate, that’s not the best choice for your health. Still, herbal cigarette choices are far less damaging to your health.
Q: Should I smoke tea or drink it?
A: Smoking tea will never be as healthy as drinking it. That being said, we would obviously recommend to start your day with a cup of green tea and a green tea cigarette instead of a cup of coffee and a tobacco cigarette. Using a vaporizer and drinking tea are the healthier options.
What are Herbal Alternatives to Smoking Tea?
There is so much to explore when trying tobacco alternatives. Smoking tea is a great way to break the hold cigarettes have on your life. However, there are a few other herbal alternatives you might find interesting.
Blue Lotus – The dried flower of the blue lotus provides a calming smoke with feelings of euphoria and relaxation, leading to a slight narcotic effect. Link to the article.
Mullein – Fights anxiety, providing a sense of calm to the body and mind. It’s a smooth smoke that generates large clouds of white smoke. Mullein is a great addition to any blend to reduce the harshness of the tea or herbal smoke. Link to the article.
White Sage – This herb boosts cognitive function and stimulates memory. White Sage is a mood enhancer, providing a feeling of relaxation to the body. The intense flavor is best when cut with mullein, and it’s a good choice for clearing congestion from the lungs, throat, and sinus. Link to the article.
Mugwort – Smoke some mugwort before you sleep and experience vivid, colorful, and sometimes lucid dreams. Mugwort produces a thick, white, near-odorless, smoke. It stimulates the mind, enhancing memory function. Link to the article.
Wild Dagga Flower – A native flower to South Africa, “dagga” is a local word for cannabis in the republic. Wild dagga is nothing like cannabis, producing large orange blooms during the summer months. Some users report a euphoric and slightly psychedelic experience when smoking this dried herb. Link to the article.

Nicolas ‘Axel’ Duval is the founder and content editor of this website. He launched Smokable Herbs in 2011. He later created the Smokably herb online store, which sells herbs and blends worldwide.
As an herbalist and marketing enthusiast, he used Smokable Herbs as a sandbox to test ideas and deploy content.