Tea vs coffee: caffeine compared
Black tea has 48 mg of caffeine per 8 oz cup. Filter coffee has 96 mg per 8 oz cup.
Per serving filter coffee is ahead: 96 mg against 48 mg, twice as much. Per 100 ml filter coffee is ahead: 40 mg against 20 mg, twice as much.
| Black tea | Filter coffee | |
|---|---|---|
| Serving | 8 oz cup (240 ml) | 8 oz cup (240 ml) |
| Caffeine per serving | 48 mg | 96 mg |
| Caffeine per 100 ml | 20 mg | 40 mg |
| Caffeine per fl oz | 5.9 mg | 11.8 mg |
| In the same 12 oz (355 ml) | 71 mg | 142 mg |
| Share of the 400 mg daily limit | 12% | 24% |
| Peak level, 45 minutes in | 44 mg | 88 mg |
| Time to fall below 40 mg | 1 and a half hours | 7 and a half hours |
| Latest for an 11 pm bedtime | 9:18 pm | 3:36 pm |
| Servings to reach 400 mg | 8.3 | 4.2 |
What the numbers mean
A cup of black tea has half the caffeine of a mug of filter coffee. That is why switching the afternoon coffee for tea is the easiest way to cut down without stopping.
The half dose matters more than it looks, because of how caffeine clears. A cup of tea falls under the sleep threshold in about 1 and a half hours. A mug of coffee takes 7 and a half hours.
The full page for each
Common questions
Which has more caffeine, black tea or filter coffee?
Filter coffee. One 8 oz cup holds 96 mg, against 48 mg in one 8 oz cup of black tea: twice as much.
Which is the better choice late in the day?
Black tea. For an 11 pm bedtime one serving can be had as late as 9:18 pm, against 3:36 pm for filter coffee.
How many servings of black tea equal one filter coffee?
About 2. One 8 oz cup of filter coffee holds 96 mg and one 8 oz cup of black tea holds 48 mg.
How many can I have in a day?
Going by the 400 mg daily limit for healthy adults: about 8 servings of black tea or 4 of filter coffee, if that is the only caffeine you have. Anything else with caffeine in it counts toward the same limit.
More comparisons
Look it up another way
Where these numbers come from
Every figure is calculated with the model the Cira app uses: caffeine peaks 45 minutes after you take it and halves every 5.7 hours, a typical value for healthy adults. The 40 mg sleep line is a working threshold of the model, and the 400 mg daily limit is the figure used by the European Food Safety Authority and the US FDA. These are averages. Smoking, pregnancy, the contraceptive pill and some medicines change how fast you clear caffeine. How the numbers are worked out.
