Alexis Atwater 

Peter Camilleri 

English 170 

6 October 2023 

Why is coffee better than tea? 

Coffee and tea have been around for a long time. Our society has perfected the way we drink both tea and coffee. There are so many benefits and pleasures to both. They wake you up, help you focus, taste good, and smell amazing. Although they both are similar, coffee is much better than tea, and for good reasons. Coffee is better than tea because it has a wider variety of flavors, has more caffeine, the culture around coffee is richer, and it is better for your overall well-being.  

Coffee and tea are staples in the everyday lives of human beings. Since coffee offers so many different brews, roasts, flavor combinations, and special ways to make coffee, it appeals to almost everyone! Coffee trumps over tea for many reasons including its wide variety of flavors. Both coffee and tea come in many flavors and fun combinations to make them tastier, but coffee has a lot more variety when it comes to creating delicious drinks. According to the article “Your Ultimate Guide to Different Types of Coffee,” coffee comes in many forms such as a black coffee, latte, cappuccino, espresso, americano, cortado, red eye, Lungo, mocha, ristretto, flat white, affogato, café au lait, and Irish. You can also make your coffee cold with several types of iced coffee such as iced espresso, cold brew, iced coffee, Frappuccino, nitro, and much more. Baristas can take this wide variety to a whole new level by combining coffee with many assorted flavors like syrup, sugar, and several types of milk. You can find these styles of coffee in Starbucks and Dunkin which are necessities in people’s lives where they can get almost any type of coffee drink and customize it to their liking. Not only can you perfect the way you like your coffee, but you can also add coffee to your alcoholic beverages and your baked goods. Coffee also offers a rich and strong taste and smell that adds powerful flavor and smells amazing. In comparison, tea has many different varieties of flavors and drink combinations, but you can only really get it hot or iced and there is a lot less creativity in making several types of teas. Overall, coffee is better than tea because coffee has a lot more room for creativity when making distinctive styles and tastes of coffee.  

Another way in which coffee is better than tea is that coffee culture is much more popular and influential than tea culture. Coffee shops have been staples in American lives and have become a very inviting and social environment that has become culturally important to many people. People go to coffee shops to experience a calm, creative, and welcoming environment where you can get your work done, go on a date, meet up with friends, and even partake in or watch a social event such as a musical performance. Not only do these coffee shops sell many diverse types of coffee, but they also commonly sell pastries, sandwiches, and snacks. The experience of going to a coffee shop is unmatched. The environments vary in many ways from one coffee shop to the next. They vary in the décor, lighting, seating, smells, types of people, food, and music. A wide variety of distinctive style cafes makes for an appeal to almost any type of person. Coffee shops offer a positive experience and environment for everyone through the taste of the coffee, the social interactions within the shop, and the aesthetic of the shop that provides a space to be creative and get work done. Tea shops do not offer this same rich environment and culture. Overall, the culture and environment of coffee and coffee shops make coffee more appealing and better than tea.  

 There is nothing better than a fresh cup of coffee in the morning to start the day off right. A lot of young teens and adults of all ages need something to help them wake up in the morning. For a long time now, coffee has been used to wake people up in the morning to start the day off energized and focused for whatever tasks the day brings. More people usually turn to coffee in the morning because it offers more caffeine than tea does. According to the article “Caffeine Content for Coffee, Tea, Soda, and More,” the caffeine in coffee per cup ranges from 62-96mg, whereas tea’s caffeine content per cup ranges from 19-47mg (Mayo). Coffee is a motivator to get up in the mornings, start the day off right, and be productive with either school, the gym, sports, or work. This is to be said for a lot of people around the world who rely on coffee to wake them up and help them stay focused and energized throughout the day. Because of the amount of caffeine that coffee offers, coffee pots and dispensers are in almost every office building, hospital, and pretty much any workplace building. According to the article “How Coffee Can Improve Office Productivity,” the caffeine in coffee keeps employees alert, enhances memory performance, encourages faster learning, increases focus levels, and increases creativity. This demonstrates that coffee can provide a lot of benefits in your productivity in the work setting, school setting, or any task that requires attention and focus. Since coffee has more caffeine than tea, this makes coffee better for waking you up and giving you a sense of focus and alertness for daily activities and events like working at your job. 

The final reason why coffee is better than tea is because it is better for your overall health and well-being. Coffee provides many health benefits such as decreasing the chances of certain diseases, elevating your mood, and helping your gut microbiome. There have been many studies that have found a relationship between drinking coffee daily and the reduced risk of cancer. “The American Cancer Society says coffee contains hundreds of biologically active compounds, including some that have been shown to reduce inflammation, prevent damage to cells, and regulate genes involved in DNA repair” (O’Connor). The effect of these compounds in coffee has been linked to reducing the risk of getting diseases that impact the lives of many people. According to an article called “The Benefits of Offices Coffee,” by Christian Hamaker, research findings have found that coffee is linked to delaying dementia and possibly reversing Alzheimer’s disease. In comparison, there is little evidence that provides support for the relationship between drinking tea and reduced risk of cancer or dementia. Not only does coffee reduce the risk of chronic diseases, but it also helps improve your mood. Coffee was found to improve people’s mood and also help relieve depression symptoms (WebMD). This is extremely important because so many people struggle with depression and little things like drinking a delicious cup of coffee can help reduce the severity of depression symptoms and improve one’s overall mood for the day. The last health benefit that coffee offers, is that it enriches your gut biome. Gut health is extremely important for your digestion and health. According to “Coffee vs. Tea Smackdown” by Anahad O’Connor, Aaron Stchelberg and Garland Potts, coffee and tea have compounds called polyphenols that are linked to many health benefits. These compounds are fuel for healthy bacteria in your gut microbiome. Coffee has almost twice as much polyphenol as tea does, which means it’s twice as likely to help your gut microbiome. Overall, drinking coffee daily can be extremely beneficial to your physical, mental, and microbiome health. 

On the opposing side of this argument, many people favor tea over coffee. Tea offers people a wide variety of flavors, the benefits of caffeine, a rich culture around it, and many health benefits. There are many different types of tea such as black tea, white tea, and green tea, and many different flavor combinations such as lemon ginger, peppermint, peach, and much more. The several types of teas and flavors can be found in tea shops, bubble tea cafes, and coffee shops. Tea shops are generally small and have many different tea leafs and flavors to choose from. They offer a delightful place to stop in and get a refreshing beverage. Additionally, tea provides many health benefits such as relieving stress. According to “The Hidden Health Benefits of Tea” by Penn Medicine, tea has been found to ward off the risk of cancer and heart disease, boost your immune system, and help inflammation. The reasons why tea is better than coffee can also be said for why coffee is better and with more evidence and experiences to back it. Coffee has a lot more styles and flavor combinations than tea, coffee shops provide more of an inviting and social environment than tea shops, and there have been more research findings on the health benefits of coffee.  

In conclusion, coffee is better than tea in many ways. Coffee has a wider variety of styles and flavors, has more caffeine, the culture around coffee richer, and it is better for your overall well-being. People around the world turn to coffee to make their days better, put a smile on their faces, reap the social benefits of getting coffee in a café or work building, and help with their gut and overall health.