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The thing is, all tea types are possibly herbal owing to the plant they usually come from (camellia sinesis). It just becomes a matter of classifying them according to color, which is usually determined by the drying and fermenting process used on them. Red tea is no exception, because it is usually a black tea to the westerners, the leaves and buds being completely oxidized. It is only in the orient where it would be literally termed as red tea for its appearance. Herbal tea, on the other hand, is merely the combination of any family of the camellia sinesis used as a tea mixed with any and all other things aside from tea itself. It is sometimes also called tisane and ptisan.

Red herbal tea would then refer to what could be any black tea that is mixed with other plants or herbs aside from the red tea itself. There are, of course, red teas that are made not out of camellia sinesis plants--for example, there is the African rooibos tea, which is often touted for being anti-aging as well as being incredibly medicinal, made from African herbs and is steadily gaining in popularity. It is purported to have no caffeine and thus is safe for the heart. However, the most famous red herbal teas are the mixed black teas. There is red ginger tea, which also has many medicinal values as well as also supposedly improves one's singing voice as some sort of "tonic". There is also Korean red ginseng tea, which has fragments of ginseng which improve the body's circulatory processes. Also one of the most noted red herbal teas is honeybush tea, also drawing from South Africa, with also no caffeine but a far more complex in terms of taste than the rooibos. It alleviates stomach problems and is rich in antioxidants. Then there is also red tea mixed with licorice, as well as cinnamon, both not only very aromatic and distinct in flavor, giving a different kind of full-bodied tea but also drawing on the nutritional value of both.

Though there are many kinds of red herbal tea, it is wise to consider that tea is, in general, a herbal drink that has a great many more health benefits than coffee does. Both green and red herbal tea in particular, are widely credited as the main source of health not only in the Orient but also in the west. The additional herbs within it only serve to strengthen this, and it is widely encouraged to give it a try.