Black tea calories come to 2 for 1 cup (237 g) of plain brewed tea and just 1 per 100 g. The tea itself barely registers. What changes the total is what you add or buy: a sweetened bottled black tea (271 g) carries 122 calories and 25.7 g of sugar.
2kcal
1 cup · 237 g, brewed with tap water
0%protein
0 gProtein
1 gCarbs
0 gFat
How to burn off 2 kcal
—Walking, brisk
—Jogging
—Cycling, moderate
—Swimming
Skip the math. BodyPal counts these calories from your steps and workouts automatically.
Nutrition facts
Brewed with tap water · per 237 g
Calories
2 kcal
Protein
0 g
Carbohydrate
0.7 g
Fat
0 g
Saturated fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
7 mg
Potassium
88 mg
Iron
0 mg
Source: USDA FoodData Central
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Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Black tea: calories, protein and sodium by serving
Percent of daily value uses the FDA reference of 2,000 kcal a day.
Serving
kcal
Protein
Carbs
Fat
Sodium
% DV kcal
1 cup (237 g)
2
0 g
0.7 g
0 g
7 mg
0%
6 fl oz (178 g)
2
0 g
0.5 g
0 g
5 mg
0%
Sweetened bottled (271 g)
122
0 g
29.3 g
0.6 g
8 mg
6%
100 g
1
0 g
0.3 g
0 g
3 mg
0%
3 × 1 cup (237 g)
7
0 g
21 mg
5 × 1 cup (237 g)
12
0 g
36 mg
Five cups of plain black tea add up to 12 calories
Portion size hardly matters with plain brewed black tea. A 6 fl oz (178 g) mug and a full 1 cup (237 g) both round to 2 calories, because the drink is almost entirely water that has picked up flavor and color from the leaves. You would need a lot of tea before the number moved at all.
The multiples show how slowly it climbs. Two cups (474 g) come to 5 calories, three cups (711 g) to 7, and five cups (1,185 g) to 12. Even at five cups a day, plain black tea supplies less energy than a single bite of most snacks. Sodium follows the same slow path: 7 mg per cup, 14 mg for two and 36 mg for five, set against a daily value of 2300 mg.
So for logging purposes, plain black tea is close to a free entry. The real work is tracking anything that goes into the cup alongside it. If you count calories carefully, log the milk, sugar or syrup as separate items and let the tea itself stay at 2.
The few calories it has all come from carbs
The calorie split for brewed black tea is 100% carbohydrate, 0% protein and 0% fat. That sounds dramatic until you see the amounts. There is 0.3 g of carbs per 100 g, or 0.7 g in 1 cup (237 g), and the sugars row reads 0. These are trace compounds pulled from the leaf during brewing, not added sugar.
Protein, fat, saturated fat, fiber and cholesterol all sit at 0 per 100 g. That makes black tea a drink you can fit into almost any eating pattern without shifting your macro totals. If you track carbs closely, 0.7 g per cup is small enough that most people will never notice it in a day's count.
The minerals are just as modest. Brewed black tea has 3 mg of sodium and 37 mg of potassium per 100 g. Neither is a meaningful share of the daily values of 2300 mg sodium and 4700 mg potassium, so this is a drink you choose for flavor and caffeine rather than for nutrients.
Sugar is the row to watch once tea is sweetened
Bottled and sweetened black tea is a different drink on the label. A sweetened bottled serving (271 g) has 122 calories, 29.3 g of carbs and 25.7 g of sugars, compared with 2 calories and 0 g of sugar in a brewed cup. That one bottle takes 6% of a daily calorie value, almost all of it from sugar.
Milk changes things too, though in a different way. Milk tea comes to 122 calories per 1 cup (240 g) and 51 per 100 g, with 1.6 g of protein, 9 g of carbs and 1.1 g of fat per 100 g. Some of those calories at least bring protein along; the sweetened bottled version brings almost nothing but sugar.
If you like iced tea from the store, check whether the label says unsweetened. Bottled options such as Newman's Own Lemon Iced Black Tea or Snapple Green & Black Tea, Peach sit next to plain tea bags like Lipton Black Tea Bags, PG Tips Black Tea and Bruce Tea Black Tea, and the gap between brewed and sweetened is where the calories hide.
Plain black tea fits almost any day of eating
Because a cup of brewed black tea adds 2 calories, it works as a swap for drinks that carry far more. Choosing it over a sweetened bottled tea takes a single serving from 122 calories down to 2. That is the clearest lever this page offers.
If you prefer tea with something in it, add a measured splash of milk rather than pouring freely, and log it. A squeeze of lemon adds flavor for very little. Sweetener is the add-in that moves the total fastest, so if you use sugar, count the spoons the same way you would count any other food.
Tea pairs naturally with breakfast or an afternoon snack, and the snack will almost always outweigh the tea in calories. If you want to log the whole moment quickly, BodyPal can log black tea and whatever sits next to it from a photo, so you keep an honest record of the cup and the plate together.
How does black tea compare?
Here is how plain black tea compares with green tea, milk tea and chai tea, per 100 g and per usual serving.
Verdict: If you want the lowest-calorie cup, plain black tea and green tea are tied at 2 calories per serving and 1 per 100 g, so pick by taste. Milk tea and chai tea run 51 calories per 100 g, so save them for when you want a creamier drink and count them like a snack.
Most popular black tea brands in the United States
Ranked by popularity in the BodyPal database
# Productkcal / 100 g
1Snapple Green & Black Tea, Peach12 fl oz · 355 g34 kcal
2Lipton Black Tea Bags1 tea bag · 2 g0 kcal
3PG Tips Black Tea1 tea bag · 3 g0 kcal
4Lipton Peach Iced Black Tea Bags1.1 g0 kcal
5Newman's Own Lemon Iced Black Tea1 can · 355 g20 kcal
6Bruce Tea Black Tea450 g20 kcal
Tea bags are labelled per gram of dry leaf and bottled teas are sweetened, so neither reads like the plain brewed cup above. Source: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Black tea FAQs
How many calories are in a cup of black tea?
A cup of plain brewed black tea (237 g) is about 2 calories, with 0.7 g of carbs and no fat.
Is black tea good for weight loss?
Plain brewed black tea adds about 2 calories per cup, so it barely registers in a daily total. A cup of sweetened bottled black tea is 122 calories.
Black tea vs green tea: which has fewer calories?
Both are about 1 calorie per 100 g, so a cup of either comes to roughly 2 calories.
How much sugar is in black tea?
Plain brewed black tea has 0 g of sugar per 100 g. Sweetened bottled black tea has 9.5 g per 100 g, about 26 g in a 271 g cup.
Is black tea zero calories?
Almost, but not quite: plain brewed black tea has 2 calories per 1 cup (237 g) and 1 per 100 g. That is low enough that most people treat it as a free drink, as long as nothing is added.
How many carbs are in black tea?
Brewed black tea has 0.7 g of carbs per 1 cup (237 g) and 0.3 g per 100 g, with 0 g of sugars. Sweetened bottled black tea is different, with 29.3 g of carbs per 271 g serving.
What does USDA FoodData Central list for 1 cup of brewed black tea?
USDA lists 2 calories for 1 cup (237 g) of black tea brewed with tap water, with 0.7 g of carbs, 0 g of fat and 0 g of protein. Sodium comes to 7 mg per cup.
How many calories are in two cups of black tea?
Two cups of plain black tea (474 g) contain 5 calories. Three cups come to 7 and five cups to 12, so even several cups a day barely register in a calorie count.
Is black tea fattening?
Plain brewed black tea is not: it has 2 calories per cup and 0 g of fat. A sweetened bottled black tea is another story at 122 calories and 25.7 g of sugar per 271 g serving.
