alle@ihuxb.UUCP (Allen England) (04/09/84)
+ I keep hearing people say (and write) "And, of course, tea has more caffeine than coffee." Well, it just isn't so! According to the FDA, tea averages 40 mg of caffeine per 5 oz cup (ranges from 20-90 mg) while coffee averages 115 mg (drip brewing) while ranging from 60-180 mg. I have had so many people tell me this. I have no idea where this misconception started. Allen ihnp4!ihuxb!alle
4341jej@houxa.UUCP (J.JAKUBSON) (04/09/84)
Tea has less caffein than coffee. However, tea has more total
stimulants (I think it is bromides) than coffee.
Joel Jakubson
AT&T Bell Laboratories
...!houxa!4341jejwoods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods) (04/10/84)
I would have to say that it depends on what kind of tea you are talking
about. Different kinds of tea have wildly varying amounts of caffein.
Celestial Seasonings "Morning Thunder" tea claims to have "56% more
caffein than coffee". I doubt if Lipton could or would make the same claim.
GREG
--
{ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!stcvax | harpo!seismo | ihnp4!stcvax}
!hao!woodsellen@unisoft.UUCP (Ellen Boyle) (04/10/84)
I think the misconception is caused by the fact that unbrewed tea has more caffeine than unbrewed coffee; however, the caffeine in tea in less water soluble than in coffee. Also you get more brewed cups out of a pound of tea than of coffee. So cup for cup tea has less caffeine. Or so I've been told -- I worked for a coffee and tea shop a few years ago. ellen
andyr@ihuxt.UUCP (Ronald R. Anderson) (04/10/84)
"Morning Thunder" does, indeed have more caffein than coffee, primarily
because it is a blend of tea and roasted matte (pronounced mat-tay, I
am told); the roasted matte has an extremely high caffein content.
The tea in the blend, presumably, has the same caffein content as the
same tea in any other blend; the other ingredients affect the total
caffein contents of the brew ("strength" and "weakness" arguments
aside).
If you've tried a cup of this brew, you know how it got its name.
--
-- Ronald R. Anderson
AT&T Bell Laboratories
Naperville, Illinois
ihuxt!andyredhall@randvax.ARPA (Ed Hall) (04/12/84)
>
A chemist friend claims that the tannic acid in tea eventually reacts
with the caffeine to make it inaccessable for body absorption.
However, in hot water the caffeine is extracted more quickly than the
tannin, leaving free caffeine. Long soaking in cooler water extracts
the two in more equal proportions, allowing almost all of the caffeine
to react with the tannin. (Caffeine does not dissolve well in cooler
water.) Thus my friend, who tries to avoid caffeine, usually makes
`sun tea' and drinks it iced. (For those who don't know, sun tea is
made by placing tea and cool water in a large jar and letting it sit
in the sun for a few hours.)
-Ed Hall
decvax!randvax!edhallkeldsen@uo-vax1.UUCP (04/12/84)
[clarification time]
The issue under discussion is "which has more caffiene, coffee or tea?"
Coffee (the drink) has more caffiene than tea (the drink).
But . . . coffee beans have less caffiene than tea leaves (per unit weight).
----- ------
It's just that the method of extraction used in making the two
drinks is more effective for coffee (and that more coffee, by
weight, is used to make the beverage.) Some people probably
hazily remember this, and only "remember" that "tea has more."
For those of you who insist upon references, this is by personal
communication from Dr. Glenn L. Keldsen, Asst. Prof. of Chemistry,
Penn. State (New Kensington Campus). My father, if you are curious.
His source is by experimentation.
"Dak"
Dave Keldsen
{tektronix|hp-pcd}!uoregon!uo-vax1!keldsenkeldsen@uo-vax1.UUCP (04/18/84)
re: last response. OOPS! Hey, Generic American, how do YOU spell caffein? For net flames, I spell it i-n-c-o-r-r-e-c-t-l-y. Sorry about that. - Dave Keldsen