All You Need to Know About Caffeine in Teas!

The amount of caffeine in tea depends on the plant itself, for type of tea, plucking of season, and the duration of infusion. The levels of caffeine in various teas, green tea and coffee is different and the variations have been discussed below. 

Amount of Caffeine - Tea vs Coffee

Sun-dried tea leaves contain more caffeine content than coffee beans. Usually, while steeping tea leaves into water, only a partial amount of caffeine gets extracted. But in case of coffee, much more caffeine is extracted during infusion.  However, a lot of factors determine the amount of caffeine in teas and coffee like plant terroir, quantity, variety and infusion period.

Amount of Caffeine in Green Tea 

It is known that various types of teas are derived from the leaves of the same plant named Camellia Sinesis. These include black tea, white tea and oolong tea and have relatively the same amount of caffeine in their dry forms. The amount of caffeine actually present in a single cup is largely affected by the variety of tea, infusion time, and quantity of leaves used for brewing.

Quantity of Caffeine 

One cup of green tea contains approximately 20-45 mg caffeine and black tea has approximately 50 mg. Coffee has approximately 100-200 mg of caffeine. This has maximum content of caffeine that can help in boosting cognitive activity. However, green tea contains L-thianine along with caffeine which amplifies the activity of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA and has anxiety- relieving effects.