# Why do people drink hot liquids when it's not cold out?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-hot-liquids-when-its-not-cold-out/239217>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 9, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-hot-liquids-when-its-not-cold-out/239217 "2004-04-09T20:27:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-hot-liquids-when-its-not-cold-out/239217/21 "2004-04-10T13:24:21Z")

</div>

> [@noname](#):
>
> I am not totall convinced with this theory. If what is said were true, then a hot glass of water would be a better choice, since water is readily absorbed in th blood stream, and go about its business of cooling sooner than tea or coffee. caffaine definately has a role to play in the cooling, since it stimulates(i stand coffected) the brain into feeling alert after the fatigue that the heat reults.

You may not be convinced but I recall seeing a segment on a TV programme about this when I lived in London many years ago. Naturally the beverage of choice was tea rather than coffee. Infrared thermography was used to show that tea was more cooling than beer (not that any reason is needed for drinking beer).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-hot-liquids-when-its-not-cold-out/239217/22 "2004-04-10T14:54:24Z")

</div>

I’ll vouch for **legion’s** mom. I thought it was crazy the first time I was offered hot tea in 98 deg F (37 deg C) weather, but it actually did help to cool me off. And frankly, hot tea sits better in my stomach than cold water or other beverages when I’m overheated and dehydrated.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-hot-liquids-when-its-not-cold-out/239217.md?page=1)