Getting wired: Tea & Caffeine
There seems to be a lot of confusion out there about the amount of caffeine in a cup of tea, and what that means. When you drop your tea bag into your cup of tea, you want to know just how much caffeine you’re getting. The short answer is that it varies—depending on whether you’re using a tea bag or loose leaf tea, how long you steep it for, etc. But fear not—Master Amanzi shall tell you more.
Caffeine is a highly water soluble natural drug found in tea leaves and in many other places like chocolate and, of course, coffee. It is also one of the main reasons tea has become the most popular beverage in the world (next to water, of course.) it stimulates blood flow your breathing rate, and speeds up your metabolism for a short time. All of this gives your body and brain a boost. It can also increase alertness, making you feel “more awake,” and prompts your body to release more dopamine into your system improving your mood. You can see why tea has been so popular throughout the ages.
But for some, caffeine is considered a bad thing. Some people are extremely sensitive to it, experiencing upset stomach, jittery nerves, or an inability to sleep. Others fear its addictive properties (withdrawal has some mild symptoms like irritability and headaches). It should be mentioned that women in the midst of pregnancy or those still breastfeeding should avoid tea and other caffeinated drinks, as it can be transferred to the child.
Contrary to what you may have heard, tea does not have as much caffeine as coffee. While it varies based on many factors—the type of tea you’re using, tea bag v. loose leaf, steeping time, just to name a few—in general, a cup of tea has between 40-60mg per cup. Coffee has from 80-150mg in each cup. Using tea bags produces a more caffeinated cup of tea since the broken leaves (or “fannings”) are much smaller and release more caffeine than loose leaf teas.
Some say that you can manually decaffeinate your tea by steeping it for thirty seconds and then pouring it out and steeping it again. It is said that 80% of the caffeine is put into the water in that first thirty seconds. There is no proof that this is true, and studies have actually shown that it would really take about five minutes to remove that much caffeine from the tea leaves.
If you want to know more about the amount of caffeine in your specific brand of tea, you should do your own homework. But knowing the basics of these facts about caffeine and tea should help you get started.
Drink Tea and Prosper, Young Tea Drinker!
Tags: addiction, black tea, caffeine, decaf, energy, loose tea, tea
