Well now, that’s a pickle.

You would be tempted to say Coffee wins in Caffeine department but, to be honest it depends on the point of view.

Let’s dig in:

So, it is said that tea contains theine, right? Well…it is called like that by some specialists because it acts differently from caffeine in coffee so to make the story short you can accept that or go on a small read of a couple of minutes to understand better the idea behind calling them differently, that will be up to you

We’ll start from scratch:

So coffee contains caffeine, that’s why every morning billions of people use caffeine to wake up or as help for a night shift. This natural stimulant is one of the most used ingredient in the world and a lot of times a negative spot light is put on it due to the negative effects on sleep and anxiety.

What isn’t so talked about is that in coffee there are five different phytochemicals classified as caffeine. All this five phytochemicals affect the nervous system and can cause jitters, nausea and racing heart (I am talking mostly about exes here not the one cup of coffee that is enjoyed by a person with no medical issues). The specific caffeines in coffee metabolize very quickly in the body (we’ll get to that in a second), coffee generally gives a rapid spike in energy but after that a heavy crash comes as it burns off.

I am a tea lover but i am not going to refuse a nice cappuccino once in a while (if done correctly it reminds me of the years I spent in Italy) so to be fair we have to look into things with an open mind.

Studies done about caffeine report that it has health benefits as well, not just negative aspects but we will look into that another time.

So, we know caffeine is a natural stimulant most commonly found in coffee, tea and cacao plants and that it works by stimulating the brain and central nervous system, helping you stay alert and prevent the onset of tiredness.

Tea goes back as far as 2737 BC according to historians and coffee seamed to be discovered many years later when goats were reported to have extra energy after eating coffee plant.

Caffeine from coffee is quickly absorbed from the gut into the bloodstream soon after consumed. From bloodstream it travels to the liver and is broken down into compounds that can affect the function of various organs. The main effect seams to be on the brain, by blocking the effects of adenosine (that’s a neurotransmitter that relaxes the brain and makes you feel tired)

Adenosine levels tend to build up over the day making you increasingly more tired and causing you to want to go to sleep (that is if caffeine doesn’t connect to adenosine receptors in the brain without activating them)

It may also increase blood adrenaline levels and increase brain activity of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine.

Anyway, without going into all this big words we can state that a cup of coffee can take as little as 20 minutes to reach the bloodstream and about an hour to reach full effectiveness.

Now, before going into the tea it’s good to know that the about of caffeine in coffee or tea can very depending on the origin, type and most of all the preparation of the drink.

And now the controversy: Did you know that tea leaves contain 3.5% caffeine but coffee beans have only 1.1-2.2% (as said before depending on origin and type)?

Yes, you read correctly, tea leaves have around double the amount of caffeine in them but here’s the thing: the coffee brewing process uses hotter water, that means that it extracts more of the caffeine found in the beans, and on top of that you also use more coffee beans that you would use tea leaves for a cup of the delicious drink , that is why a cup of brewed coffee generally has more caffeine than a cup of tea.

Now, you all know there are different varieties of tea: black tea, green tea, white tea, oolong,pu erh and herbals (well those are infusions not teas technically but let’s not go of topic)

Looking at the basic: black tea leaves are oxidized, while white and green tea leaves are not.

In fact white tea leaves are barely processed at all so naturally they have in the leaves the larger amount of caffeine but the leaves are brewed at a much lower temperature so the caffeine isn’t released into the drink. Black tea leaves lose a part of the caffeine in the process of making them into, well: black tea but to prepare it you generally use boiling water so an average cup (around 237 ml) of black tea contains 47 mg of caffeine but can go to as high as 90mg depending on the time of brewing and the type of black tea.

To sum it a little:

Black tea: 25 – 110 mg / cup

Green tea: 30 – 50 mg / cup

white tea: 6 – 60 mg / cup

matcha green tea powder: 35 mg caffeine / half teaspoon (1 gram, that would be the amount for one serving)

yerba mate: 65 – 130 mg / cup

While:

plain, brewed coffee: 102 – 200 mg / cup (237 ml)

Espresso lungo 45 – 60 mg / serving

Espresso normale around 30 mg / serving (30 ml)

Espresso ristretto around 20 mg / serving

Double espresso around 100 mg / serving

Remember one thing: herbal teas are usually marketed as caffeine-free but some of them can still deliver up to 12 mg of caffeine, that is considered a negligible quantity but it’s good to know anyway.

Example: To give you an idea, since I was saying about the brewing having something to do with the amount of caffeine found in tea:

Green tea after one minute 16mg caffeine per cup but in the same conditions of brewing, meaning same quantity of loose leaf tea and same temperature of water, after 3 minute brewing the caffeine in the cup more than doubles to 36mg.

Now the breakdown of caffeine in tea.

The tea plant (Camellia Sinensis) has three phytochemicals classified as caffeines and they support and stimulate the endocrine system. This three phytochemicals stimulate the adrenal gland, adenoids and thyroid, this is one way tea helps increase metabolism. This is also a reasone why tea has a mood elevating effect as it wakes your body up.

The thing is that due to the theanine, the caffeine in tea leaves is somehow softened, so the caffeine is metabolized much slower and evenly in the body, resulting in a longer and sustained level of energy.

So, we should remember that even though both coffee and tea have benefits, the two beverages produce different results. Next time you need a boost of energy take into consideration if you are after a fast ride or a gentle sustained “pick me up” before choosing between coffee or tea