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Truly a strange article, like the author has never tried breakfast tea which has almost as much caffeine as coffee and will definitely keep you awake…

zwieback 4y ago
Came here to say that - I just checked, my preferred breakfast tea (Brooke Bond Red Label) has 60 vs. coffee 95 so definitely in the ball park. I always thought it was like a quarter of coffee.
- coldtea 4y ago
  >60 vs. coffee 95 so definitely in the ball park It's only "in the ballpark" if you used to think it was a quarter. Otherwise, it's a whooping 60% more...
  - throwaway1777 4y ago
    Drink a second cup.
    - coldtea 4y ago
      We're talking about standard behavior. People regularly drink taller coffees, there's cold brew, etc. And, of course, you could always drink 20 cups too and have more caffeine than an intravenous shot even. But if we go with just drink the required amount of cups for your target caffeine level, there's no sense in discussing which has more caffeine.
neaden 4y ago
To nitpick breakfast tea isn't a type of tea. There is English Breakfast Tea which is a specific blend of black tea and spices. Black tea usually have 50 mg of caffeine per cup, roughly half what coffee has. Oolong, Green, and White tea all have even less. Yerba Mate has more caffeine but that is a different plant than true tea.
- samatman 4y ago
  None of the English/Irish/Scottish Breakfast Teas are spiced, they're blends but pure tea, and they do tend to feature Assams and other high-caffeine varieties.
- nicbou 4y ago
  I just did research on caffeine in tea, and the results are all over the place. One brand of Earl Grey can have twice as much caffeine as the other. Even then, 50 is the upper bound if you seep the tea for 5 minutes, and it's still much less than coffee.
n4r9 4y ago
In my experience it keeps you awake but it doesn't give the same kind of productive buzz that coffee does. I think this is to do with not just the caffeine but the general combination of other chemicals, such as l-theanine.
- QuercusMax 4y ago
  I recently had to drive 5 hours on very little sleep, and I only had tea available. I had to stop at a gas station to get coffee because the tea wasn't cutting it, even at triple strength. T will stop me from being able to fall asleep, but it does not keep me alert in the same way that coffee does.
- l8rlump 4y ago
  I believe tea also contains other alkaloids that even out the caffeine uptake over time, so that's another reason it's a different experience.
coldtea 4y ago
His point wasn't as much about the caffeine content, as about the culture. Besides, breakfast tea doesn't have anywhere near "almost as much" caffeine as coffee. At best 45-50mg on average. Coffee starts 20-30 mg above that and the sky is the limit with a large latte or cold brew.
- fy20 4y ago
  It really depends on what tea and how you use it. Steeping the same tea for 1 minute or 3 minutes will result in a vastly different amount of caffiene in the cup. And then it depends on how much tea you use in the first place, so giving tea a "mg per cup" measurement isn't very repeatable. Coffee is much more standardised on how much you use and how long it is brewed for. My breakfast tea consists of 3 teaspoons of loose Assam, 2 teaspoons of brown sugar, left to steep for around 5 minutes until it starts to become bitter, then topped with a generous serving of cold milk. I believe the official description would be a 'proper builder's brew'. The caffiene in that is going to be completely different to an Earl Grey you have after work to chill out. I can't stand the taste of bergamot when it's left to steep, so I usually only let it sit for 30 seconds.
gopalv 4y ago
> the author has never tried breakfast tea which has almost as much caffeine Tea time is a better cultural marker than the drink itself. And probably why you jumped to breakfast tea, because you're thinking of something occupying the same role as a morning cup of coffee. Most people wouldn't have a coffee break at 4:30 in the evening, but a tea break at 4:30 is perfectly okay. But the whole point of a "tea time of the soul" is to contemplate over tea before drinking it. Coffee offers no such moment to wait for it to cool, because a big cup would be too much coffee, but just enough tea. I thought that's the actual point of the article too. And then you start back at what you were doing, but a little more deliberate about it.
- ungamedplayer 4y ago
  I like to think that the act of making tea takes my concious mind off the task, just long enough for my unconscious mind to push solutions to my current problem into my wakened mind.
meken 4y ago
Maybe he’s talking about herbal tea (zero caffeine)…

zwieback 4y ago

Came here to say that - I just checked, my preferred breakfast tea (Brooke Bond Red Label) has 60 vs. coffee 95 so definitely in the ball park. I always thought it was like a quarter of coffee.

coldtea 4y ago
>60 vs. coffee 95 so definitely in the ball park It's only "in the ballpark" if you used to think it was a quarter. Otherwise, it's a whooping 60% more...
- throwaway1777 4y ago
  Drink a second cup.
  - coldtea 4y ago
    We're talking about standard behavior. People regularly drink taller coffees, there's cold brew, etc. And, of course, you could always drink 20 cups too and have more caffeine than an intravenous shot even. But if we go with just drink the required amount of cups for your target caffeine level, there's no sense in discussing which has more caffeine.

neaden 4y ago

To nitpick breakfast tea isn't a type of tea. There is English Breakfast Tea which is a specific blend of black tea and spices. Black tea usually have 50 mg of caffeine per cup, roughly half what coffee has. Oolong, Green, and White tea all have even less. Yerba Mate has more caffeine but that is a different plant than true tea.

samatman 4y ago
None of the English/Irish/Scottish Breakfast Teas are spiced, they're blends but pure tea, and they do tend to feature Assams and other high-caffeine varieties.
nicbou 4y ago
I just did research on caffeine in tea, and the results are all over the place. One brand of Earl Grey can have twice as much caffeine as the other. Even then, 50 is the upper bound if you seep the tea for 5 minutes, and it's still much less than coffee.

n4r9 4y ago

In my experience it keeps you awake but it doesn't give the same kind of productive buzz that coffee does. I think this is to do with not just the caffeine but the general combination of other chemicals, such as l-theanine.

QuercusMax 4y ago
I recently had to drive 5 hours on very little sleep, and I only had tea available. I had to stop at a gas station to get coffee because the tea wasn't cutting it, even at triple strength. T will stop me from being able to fall asleep, but it does not keep me alert in the same way that coffee does.
l8rlump 4y ago
I believe tea also contains other alkaloids that even out the caffeine uptake over time, so that's another reason it's a different experience.

coldtea 4y ago

His point wasn't as much about the caffeine content, as about the culture. Besides, breakfast tea doesn't have anywhere near "almost as much" caffeine as coffee. At best 45-50mg on average. Coffee starts 20-30 mg above that and the sky is the limit with a large latte or cold brew.

fy20 4y ago
It really depends on what tea and how you use it. Steeping the same tea for 1 minute or 3 minutes will result in a vastly different amount of caffiene in the cup. And then it depends on how much tea you use in the first place, so giving tea a "mg per cup" measurement isn't very repeatable. Coffee is much more standardised on how much you use and how long it is brewed for. My breakfast tea consists of 3 teaspoons of loose Assam, 2 teaspoons of brown sugar, left to steep for around 5 minutes until it starts to become bitter, then topped with a generous serving of cold milk. I believe the official description would be a 'proper builder's brew'. The caffiene in that is going to be completely different to an Earl Grey you have after work to chill out. I can't stand the taste of bergamot when it's left to steep, so I usually only let it sit for 30 seconds.

gopalv 4y ago

> the author has never tried breakfast tea which has almost as much caffeine Tea time is a better cultural marker than the drink itself. And probably why you jumped to breakfast tea, because you're thinking of something occupying the same role as a morning cup of coffee. Most people wouldn't have a coffee break at 4:30 in the evening, but a tea break at 4:30 is perfectly okay. But the whole point of a "tea time of the soul" is to contemplate over tea before drinking it. Coffee offers no such moment to wait for it to cool, because a big cup would be too much coffee, but just enough tea. I thought that's the actual point of the article too. And then you start back at what you were doing, but a little more deliberate about it.

ungamedplayer 4y ago
I like to think that the act of making tea takes my concious mind off the task, just long enough for my unconscious mind to push solutions to my current problem into my wakened mind.

meken 4y ago

Maybe he’s talking about herbal tea (zero caffeine)…