Tea has been enjoyed for thousands of years as a hot beverage option other than coffee. There is a vast array of caffeine levels in each cup of tea, with signficant differences between different types of tea leaves. Although the dry weight of tea contains more caffeine per ounce than coffee, a cup of tea contains less transferred caffeine on average because fewer tea leaves are used per cup of tea as compared to the amount of beans used for a cup of coffee.
Factors Affecting Caffeine Levels
Many factors affect the amount of caffeine in your cup of tea, and even within one tea box you may have varying levels of caffeine. The type of tea and combination of tea leaves is the single greatest characteristic that determines caffeine levels. Also, similar to coffee, the size of the grind of the tea impacts the strength of caffeine such that fine tea has greater caffeine and whole leaves have less caffeine. One of the factors that you can control is steeping time: Increased steep time results in an increased transfer of caffeine to your beverage. For example, the same tea bag steeped for 2 minutes contributes 238 mg of caffeine per ml as opposed to 5 minutes of steeping time resulting in 402 mg of caffeine per ml. Beyond that, the specific location of harvest and the actual location of the tea leaf on each plant can impact the caffeine levels.
Black and Oolong Tea
Black or oolong tea is in the standard tea bag found at your grocery store. Some other examples of black tea include English Breakfast and Earl Gray tea. Black teas contain 5 mg of caffeine per ounce on average. Oolong teas such as Chinese Oolong commonly served in Chinese restaurants contain around 3.75 mg of caffeine per ounce. On average, a medium-steeped cup of black or oolong tea contains about one fourth of the caffeine of a standard cup of coffee.
Green and White Tea
White tea generally contains less caffeine than green tea. White tea includes flowery pekoe white and white pearls tea and contributes about 2 mg of caffeine per ounce. Some green tea varieties are premium green tea and India Darjeeling green tea. The caffeine in green tea averages about 2.5 mg per ounce. Green and white teas provide about one-eighth the caffeine in a standard cup of coffee.
Herbal Tea
Herbal teas are made from naturally decaffeinated botanicals, unlike regular tea that is derived from one botanical, the Camellia sinensis plant. Some examples of herbal botanicals include peppermint, lemon blossom and chamomile. This type of tea is ideal for you if you have severe caffeine sensitivity but enjoy the flavor of other teas.
Decaffeinated Tea
Although decaffeinated tea has the majority of the caffeine removed, there is still some caffeine in the tea. Decaffeinated tea contains approximately 0.4 percent of the dry weight in caffeine. The only way to ensure that your tea is completely decaffeinated is to choose a tea that only contains botanical ingredients that are naturally caffeine free.
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