# Tea is better than coffee. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741 "2005-07-16T01:36:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/61 "2005-07-18T01:44:54Z")
Oh, I’m all about the coffee. Tea can gently waft you into consciousness in the morning, but coffee provides the rocket to alertitude. Coffee makes me feel like Zeus. Coffee hits me in the brain as soon as I smell the ground beans, or the fresh brew, or the infused chocolate-chip cookies, or the spoonful of freebased caffeine ready for injection. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/62 "2005-07-18T02:03:38Z")
Tea is tea and coffee is coffee, And never the twain shall meet, I’ll drink whichever is ready, And enjoy it with whatever I eat! 🙂 I like both but prefer coffee. So What? It’s all a matter of personal opinion and preference. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/63 "2005-07-18T05:27:19Z")
> [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > **Aeschines,** can you recommend a green tea with high caffeine content? Just curious. Any preferred brands among the green drinkers on the board, for flavor, buzz, or general quality? Yes. The [li zi](https://www.adagio.com/green/li_zi_nutcracker.html?SID=75139f032e63796482a8fa399d09d2e8) from Adagio will send you into orbit. I have never found anything stronger! ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/64 "2005-07-18T05:33:40Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > It’s all a matter of personal opinion and preference. No! Ignore not the practical implications, outlined in the OP! And I still think that many here are saying _pshaw_ to tea without ever having drunk the good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/65 "2005-07-18T05:44:51Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Yes. The [li zi](https://www.adagio.com/green/li_zi_nutcracker.html?SID=75139f032e63796482a8fa399d09d2e8) from Adagio will send you into orbit. I have never found anything stronger! Oh my. Thank you for that link, **Aeschines**! ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/66 "2005-07-18T05:51:58Z")
Oh, I see **jsgoddess** linked there, too. Anyhow, thanks! I know where I’m getting my winter tea supply! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/67 "2005-07-18T06:10:51Z")
Coffee smells heavenly and tastes pretty good on occasion, but it always leaves me jittery and often makes me sick to my stomach. Tea, on the other hand, is just lovely. And even when I can’t have caffeine, there’s herbal tea (orange is my favorite), and when I can’t sleep, Celestial Seasoning’s “Sleepy Time Tea” is just perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/68 "2005-07-18T14:43:53Z")
I really like tea, but if I drink it on an empty stomach in the morning, it makes me feel slightly sick to my stomach. And a good cup of coffee is almost like a meal. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/69 "2005-07-18T16:38:52Z")
Excellent link. A whole world of tea. Heard of it, but now I know where to find it. And, IME, tea is much easier on the teeth than coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/70 "2005-07-18T16:56:00Z")
I regularly drink both–a small pot of green tea early in the morning, and later two to three cups of coffee through the course of the day. I started drinking the tea because I heard it was good for you in a lot of ways, and because the negligible caffeine content wouldn’t mean that I’d have to reduce my coffee intake. Once in a while, though, I’ll drink black tea instead of green, and I notice my desire for coffee is much reduced later in the day. Tastewise I prefer coffee over tea. I like the noticing how the different varieties taste, and each week buy a different variety from Diedrich’s. When I want a caffeine drink, coffee is what I normally turn to. But tea is somehow better _inside_; if I have a cold or headache, tea seems to soothe it in a way that coffee can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/71 "2005-07-18T17:11:32Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > No! Ignore not the practical implications, outlined in the OP! > > And I still think that many here are saying _pshaw_ to tea without ever having drunk the good stuff. Oh, I’ve had good tea, from a Turkish Sufi teahouse, and in England at high tea with the queen. (Okay, maybe not with the queen, but it was still excellent stuff). I sneer not at tea. It’s just not coffee, is all. If you want superior drip-coffee experience, I recommend Batdorf and Bronson, a roastery out of Olympia, Washington. Their coffee is exquisite, absolutely exquisite. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/72 "2005-07-18T18:51:50Z")
> **[Loose Tea | Buy Online | Free shipping over $49](https://www.adagio.com)** > > Shop online for gourmet loose teas sourced directly from the artisan farmers who tender them. All types of loose leaf teas available. Free shipping ! **Gunpowder** is cheap but fantastic! Buy in smallish quantities, as this stuff really makes big mugs with just a little leaf. It has a smoky quality and deep flavor. If you’ve thought that green is wimpier than black, this will change your mind. Their **lapsang souchong** is to die for. Warning! High caffeine content. Their **white peony** is simply magnificent. Believe or no, but it has a chocolatey flavor. Their **yunang gold** is da bomb. Powerful, spicy, full, floral–you won’t believe it. One note of caution. Their teas come in special cans, but I have found that the lids are not quite tight enough. I would put the tea in a standard can with a tight lid if you can. This applies mostly to more humid climates, however; we were in Japan. Another great site is [www.imperialtea.com](http://www.imperialtea.com). Their **monkey-picked** Oolong is simply incredible (I got it as a sample; it is really expensive!). If you want a good selection of exotic Chinese greens, this is the place. Their **black Sichuan** is a whole other type of black tea that you’ll probably never try unless you, well, try. Buy it! One caveat about this site, however: Their packaging sucks. I would advise against ordering jasmine or other flavored teas because the strong smell is likely to contaminate other teas in your box. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741/73 "2005-07-19T05:13:18Z")
“Chocolate tea” is something they drink in India. Once, though, I looked at a package of it which someone had brought from India, and found that it’s actually some dark tea that’s flavored with vanillin, an artificial flavoring. The vanillin gives the illusion of a sweet candy sort of taste, and tricks the brain into thinking chocolate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-is-better-than-coffee/312741.md?page=3)