Tea vs Coffee: A Comprehensive Caffeine Comparison

On a per-standard-cup basis, coffee typically contains more caffeine than tea: a 240 ml drip coffee has 96 mg while a 240 ml black tea has 47 mg.

• Average drip coffee (240 ml): 96 mg caffeine; black tea (240 ml): 47 mg.
• Strongest common coffee in the dataset: nitro cold brew (240 ml) 215 mg85 mg.
• Population half-life ≈ 5.7 hours — caffeine roughly halves every 5.7 h (after 6 h ≈ 48% remains).
• FDA guideline for healthy adults: keep caffeine ≤ 400 mg/day; pregnancy ≈ 200 mg/day advised by some authorities.

Average caffeine levels in tea and coffee

Coffee shows far larger variation by brew method and serving size. In the dataset, common 240 ml coffees range from instant coffee at 62 mg to nitro cold brew at 215 mg. Teas are lower per 240 ml: black tea ~47 mg, green tea ~28 mg, white tea ~16 mg, and matcha (1 tsp prepared) ~70 mg. Yerba mate is the tea-like outlier at 85 mg per 240 ml.

Direct comparison table: common drinks

Why coffee usually has more — brewing, beans and serving size

Three main reasons explain the typical gap: roast/bean concentration, extraction method, and serving size. Espresso concentrates espresso-soluble compounds into 30–60 ml shots (63 mg per 30 ml); a 240 ml latte dilutes espresso with milk (a 240 ml latte in the dataset has 68 mg). Cold-brew methods steep grounds for long periods and yield high mg/100 ml (cold brew 83.3 mg/100ml).

Variations within tea and coffee types

Tea: cultivar, leaf grade, and steep time change caffeine. Black teas and blends (English Breakfast ~50 mg) are generally highest; green and white teas are lower. Matcha uses the whole leaf powder and therefore delivers about 70 mg per 240 ml dose in the dataset — higher than brewed green tea.

Coffee: extraction method matters. Pour over in the dataset is relatively high (145 mg per 240 ml) because brew ratio and grind can concentrate caffeine; French press is 107 mg per 240 ml. Instant coffee here is moderate at 62 mg per 240 ml.

How caffeine decays in the body (half-life math)

Population-average half-life ≈ 5.7 hours; an approximate remaining fraction at times used here: 3 h ≈ 69%, 6 h ≈ 48%, 9 h ≈ 33%, 12 h ≈ 23%.

Use these numbers to plan timing: a 200 mg cold-brew at 4 PM still leaves roughly 96 mg at 10 PM (6 h later) — enough to affect sleep for sensitive people.

Health context and safety limits

Authoritative guidance: the U.S. FDA cites up to 400 mg/day as reasonable for most healthy adults; some authorities and obstetricians recommend staying under 200 mg/day in pregnancy. The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages caffeine for young children and recommends limiting adolescent intake; for specific medical advice consult a clinician. Sources: FDA, EFSA, Mayo Clinic and AAP.

Symptoms of excess: jitteriness, elevated heart rate, sleep disruption, and in extreme cases panic or palpitations. Caffeine withdrawal (headache, fatigue) can occur when regular intake stops.

Choosing between tea and coffee: practical guidance

If your goal is lower caffeine per cup, choose white or green tea (16–28 mg per 240 ml) or decaf coffee (3 mg per 240 ml). If you want sustained wakefulness with fewer sips, cold brew or nitro cold brew deliver the most caffeine per 240 ml (200–215 mg). For fine-grained tracking of totals across multiple cups, use CoffeeLog or a similar caffeine tracker to sum milligrams and time them against sleep.

Takeaway: which is ‘stronger’?

Measured by mg per standard cup, coffee almost always contains more caffeine than tea, though exceptions exist (matcha and yerba mate approach coffee territory). Brewing method and serving size change the story: a small concentrated espresso shot (63 mg per 30 ml) can deliver more caffeine per milliliter than a large weak drip. Use the tables above and the half-life numbers to manage timing, sleep, and daily totals.

Information only — not medical advice. For personal medical guidance, consult a healthcare professional.

How long until 200 mg of caffeine drops below 100 mg?

About 5.7 hours: a 200 mg dose falls to 100 mg after one population-average half-life of 5.7 hours (TrackCaffeine population-average). Half-life is the time it takes for the amount of a substance in the body to fall to half its previous value.

Mathematically: remaining = 200 × 0.5^(t/5.7); set remaining = 100 so 0.5^(t/5.7) = 0.5 and t = 5.7 hours. Using the same model, 3 hours leaves roughly 200 × 0.5^(3/5.7) ≈ 138 mg and 6 hours leaves ≈ 96 mg; these arithmetic steps use the first-order elimination model employed across this site.

If I drink a Starbucks Pike Place Grande at 4 PM, how much caffeine is left at 10 PM?

Drink: Starbucks Pike Place Brewed (Grande) contains 310 mg of caffeine in the dataset; six hours later (4 PM → 10 PM) about 150 mg remains using the site’s half-life. Remaining fraction is the proportion of the original dose that has not been eliminated.

Calculation: remaining = 310 × 0.5^(6/5.7) = 310 × 0.4825 ≈ 149.6 mg (rounds to ≈150 mg). That value cites the drink’s 310 mg from the TrackCaffeine dataset and the 5.7-hour half-life used throughout this site; because Drake et al., 2013 found caffeine 6 hours before bedtime still cuts sleep, a 150 mg residual at bedtime can measurably affect many people.

If you prefer a lower-residual example: a 240 ml cold brew (200 mg) at 4 PM leaves about 200 × 0.4825 ≈ 96.5 mg at 10 PM — roughly the same residual as a 96 mg drip coffee consumed at 4 PM would leave at 10 PM (96 × 0.4825 ≈ 46.3 mg).

How many cups of drip coffee equal one nitro cold brew in caffeine?

One 240 ml nitro cold brew has 215 mg of caffeine; a 240 ml drip coffee has 96 mg, so nitro cold brew ≈ 2.24 times a drip cup. Equivalent dose is the amount of one beverage required to match the caffeine in another beverage.

Arithmetic: 215 ÷ 96 = 2.2396, so two drip cups (2 × 96 = 192 mg) still fall short of one nitro (215 mg), while three drip cups (3 × 96 = 288 mg) exceed it. Use the site’s side-by-side drink comparison to compare other pairings (for example, cold brew 200 mg vs drip 96 mg) and the half-life calculator to model how those equivalents decay over time.

Can switching to tea near bedtime reduce sleep disruption compared to coffee?

Yes: because standard tea servings contain much less caffeine per 240 ml than most coffees, switching to tea in the hours before bed reduces the residual caffeine level at sleep time. Sleep disruption is measurable reduction in total sleep time or sleep quality shown in controlled studies.

Concrete example using the dataset and the 5.7-hour half-life: a 240 ml black tea (47 mg) consumed 6 hours before bed leaves about 47 × 0.4825 ≈ 22.7 mg at bedtime; a 240 ml drip coffee (96 mg) at the same time leaves ≈ 46.3 mg. Because Drake et al., 2013 documented that 400 mg taken 6 hours before bed shortened objective sleep by over an hour, lower absolute residuals matter—small doses can still fragment sleep in sensitive people. See our practical timing tool Last Cup Before Bed and the guide Coffee and Sleep for tailored cutoffs based on your bedtime.

How can I mix drinks across the day and stay under the 400 mg/day FDA limit?

Sum the milligrams from each item; keep the 24-hour total ≤ 400 mg per the U.S. FDA recommendation (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). Cumulative intake is the sum of all milligrams of caffeine consumed in a 24-hour period.

Examples using dataset numbers: a morning drip coffee (96 mg) + a Starbucks Cold Brew Grande (205 mg) + a Monster Ultra (150 mg) = 96 + 205 + 150 = 451 mg, which exceeds the FDA’s 400 mg/day guideline and therefore is not recommended for most healthy adults (FDA consumer update). A safer daily mix could be drip coffee (96 mg) + black tea (47 mg) + a 50 g dark chocolate (30 mg) + one Coca-Cola (355 ml, 34 mg) = 96 + 47 + 30 + 34 = 207 mg, well below 400 mg.

If you are pregnant, aim for ≤ 200 mg/day as advised by EFSA and other authorities; the European Food Safety Authority set 200 mg/day as a cautious pregnancy limit in its 2015 opinion (EFSA, 2015). Use our caffeine calculator and the safe daily limit by body weight tool to plan swaps and timed intake; for teenagers consult the AAP-informed guidance in our teenager safety guide.

Bottom line

Coffee generally contains more caffeine per standard cup than tea: a 240 ml drip coffee is 96 mg and a 240 ml black tea is 47 mg in our dataset, while concentrated 240 ml options like cold brew (200 mg) and nitro cold brew (215 mg) sit at the top of common beverages. The site uses a population-average caffeine half-life of 5.7 hours, so expect roughly 48% of a dose to remain after 6 hours; numerically, 200 mg → ≈96 mg at 6 hours and 310 mg → ≈150 mg at 6 hours.

Health and timing rules to remember: the U.S. FDA cites 400 mg/day as a reasonable limit for most healthy adults (FDA), and the European Food Safety Authority recommends keeping pregnancy intake ≤ 200 mg/day (EFSA, 2015). Caffeine 6 hours before bedtime still reduces sleep in objective studies (Drake et al., 2013), so use the numeric mg values above, our Last Cup Before Bed planner, and the half-life calculator to schedule drinks and keep within safe daily totals. For quick comparisons, see our side-by-side drink comparison and the guides on pregnancy and sleep to adjust these numbers for special situations.