Caffeine is the most widely-consumed psycho-active substance in the world. By ‘psycho-active’, we mean that it has effects on the central nervous system such as improving energy levels, increasing alertness and, in some people, elevating their mood. Many substances are attractive to us partly because they contain caffeine. If you search online using the phrase “tea has more caffeine than coffee”, you will get about 835,000 results. The wording of the search reflects a commonly-held conception: that tea works better than coffee as a caffeine-delivery system. But is that correct? Studies have shown that tea leaves have more caffeine than coffee beans. But that’s not how things finish up in the cup. The main difference between tea and coffee is how much of it gets leeched into the hot water used to make the drink. In fact, you end up with about twice as much caffeine in a cup of coffee as in a cup of tea. It’s all about surface area: coffee beans get ground up, so more of the Continue Reading