Herbal teas were common in Europe before camellia sinensis tea was imported, so I find it hard to believe the Latin origin is correct.
In Lithuanian 'arbarta' colloquially refers to all types of hot water infused drinks, there isn't any distinction of what kind of leaf or fruit (e.g. raspberry or buckthorn tea) is used.
On the other hand, the consensus in English is that where wasn't a word for this type of drink, you just used the herb's name itself.
> Herbal teas were common in Europe before camellia sinensis tea was imported
They weren’t called teas though. tê is the name in Hokkien and that’s where all the similar-sounding names for tea come from originally… in countries where tea was originally brought from China via sea. The Polish name herbata was coined in the XVIIth century specifically for camelia sinensis, but due to general ignorance about what it actually was beyond “an infusion from some weed with medical applications” the word lost precision.
In Lithuanian 'arbarta' colloquially refers to all types of hot water infused drinks, there isn't any distinction of what kind of leaf or fruit (e.g. raspberry or buckthorn tea) is used.
On the other hand, the consensus in English is that where wasn't a word for this type of drink, you just used the herb's name itself.