Tea with caffeine??

Can someone tell me which teas have at least as much caffeine (or other wake-up ingredients) as coffee or soda?

10 Replies

First of all, sodas have varying amounts of caffeine added to them depending on the brand and formulation.
From the Coca Cola website: http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/stories/health/choice-and-information/the-caffeine-in-your-can/
from Center for Science in the Public Interest: http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm

Secondly, because of differences in tea varietals, growing conditions, processing methods, and even how it’s brewed, there’s a lot of variation in the amount of caffeine you end up with in a cup of tea. Compare that with a specific soda (classic Coke, for instance), which is manufactured in a controlled setting with an exact recipe, so you’ll be getting pretty much exactly the same amount of caffeine in each can.

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Nicole said

In addition, the caffeine in tea is also affected by the L-theanine in tea. This means that (generally speaking) you won’t get the same immediate wake up from tea that you get from coffee or soda. The caffeine in tea (generally) leads to a slow, calm alertness rather than a jagged spike of wake up that coffee and soda provide.

Here’s a decent article about a study on L-theanine and caffeine in tea.
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/138/8/1572S.long

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Matcha always sends me into orbit, and it’s made from green tea leaves.

soleiltea said

yea, Matcha will give you a real kick since you’re ingesting the leaves. You can also look into herbal blends with ginger, lemongrass, or citrus if you are looking for something affordable to drink every morning. Try to get something with real ingredients though. Flavored teas probably won’t cut it

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Guayusa clocks in with the most caffeine (90mg), Mate (85mg) and Matcha (70mg) are also up there too.

There are these new teas that have been coming out lately that are laced with more caffeine. I’ve heard of some as high as 135mg, but haven’t tried personally. Quick google found http://www.zesttea.com/ but I know there’s much more companies that have these teas.

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LuckyMe said

As Nicole said, the theanine in tea delivers the caffeine gradually to your body so don’t get coffee-like wired.

The only tea that’s ever gotten me really hopped up is zhangping shui xian: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/100g-Fujian-Zhangping-Shui-xian-narcissus-flower-fragrance-organic-health-drinking-chinese-Oolong-cha-vacuum-tea/926085_1244652730.html

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Mate has more of a jolting effect on me than tea.

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AllanK said

Get a tea that is primarily buds. The heaviest amount of caffeine is in the buds, then small leaves, then large leaves, with stems having the least caffeine. I sometimes choose a large leafed puerh if I want something with less caffeine.

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Camillia Sinensis sponsored a study of caffiene in teas that was quite surprising and eye-opening to me and to the general tea caffiene beliefs out there. Instead of the generalized “rule of thumb” you see touted that caffiene decreases from black to green to white teas with puerh and oolong somewhere between black and green, it really depends on the specific tea cultivar, process, and infusion method. You could pick teas that scored high in that study. As noted above, matcha is a good way of getting the equivalent of multiple cups of loose green tea into one cup because of its powdered form.

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Mate has the most stimulating effect for me.

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