I Quit Coffee for 30 Days and Drank Black Tea Instead

Here is everything I learned

I remember the day a small coffee trolley appeared near the main square of the town I used to live in. It was conveniently situated right between my apartment building and the college that I was going to at the time. This was the first place in the neighborhood where you could buy coffee to go that wasn’t instant coffee served in a see-through plastic cup that would burn your fingers when you hold it.

From the moment I first tried their coffee, I knew I was screwed. Over the next five years, I’ve developed a deep and meaningful relationship with coffee. It took me a while to realize that the relationship wasn’t healthy. In fact, it was a pretty hurting one that was based on an unhealthy obsession.

Drinking the glorified bean water became a ritual for me. I loved waking up a little earlier and going to grab a coffee. That was my thing, the highlight of my morning. I could not imagine my day without it.

It got so bad that I couldn’t start working before I had my coffee. Even if I wasn’t sleepy, I just craved that extra boost of energy and refused to work without it.

Gradually over the years, I developed some symptoms that I did not connect to coffee at first. I had trouble falling asleep, was always tired, anxious, and my stomach was upset all the time. It also seemed like coffee didn’t have the same effect on me. One cup did not do it for me anymore. I needed more. But after increasing my dose, I didn’t get more energy. In fact, I became more tired, and my caffeine crashes got worse.

After connecting my bad symptoms to coffee, I’ve decided to replace it with something that has a more subtle effect. For a whole month, I replaced my favorite drink with black tea. Whenever I needed a boost of energy, I had a cup of English breakfast instead.

Here is everything I learn during my experiment.

Tea can give you a lot of energy

I was surprised to learn that energy-vise tea can be a great substitute for coffee.

Before, when I regularly drank coffee, I could drink tea like water. It had no effect on me. But after my coffee detox, I could feel my energy levels skyrocketing before I even finished my cup of tea.

Tea leaves contain more caffeine (3.5%) than coffee beans (1.1–2.2%). But because of the water temperature used to brew coffee and the number of beans used to make the drink, the average amount of caffeine that ends up in your cup of joe will be higher (96mg). The average amount of caffeine in black tea is 47mg per serving.

But if you like your tea strong, as I do, your cup can contain up to 90mg, which will be almost equal to the average amount in a cup of coffee.

You can enjoy more cups during the day

Because the average amount of caffeine in a cup of tea is two times smaller than in coffee, you can enjoy more cups of the drink during the day.

It is recommended by several resources not to exceed 400mg of caffeine per day. That roughly equals four cups of coffee or eight cups of tea.

It might be quite hard to drink more than eight cups of tea so you can drink it without worrying about the negative effects of too much caffeine on your health. It would be two times harder to exceed the recommended dosage if you choose to drink tea.

But please don’t forget to stay hydrated and drink enough water!

Drinking too much can cause bad symptoms, just like coffee

Though tea has a smaller amount of caffeine, drinking more than 3–4 cups can lead to some negative side effects, such as:

• Reduced iron absorption
• Increased anxiety and stress
• Troubles falling asleep and poor sleep quality
• Nausea
• Heartburn
• Headaches
• Caffeine dependence

I learned that I could drink 2–3 cups of tea per day without it having a negative effect on how I feel. But this may vary from person to person since a lot of people are more sensitive to caffeine.

It is crucial to listen to your body and cut down your intake if you experience any bad symptoms.

You can also consult your doctor if you’re unsure about the amount of caffeine you can tolerate.

Tea tastes great

When my taste buds were spoiled with the amount of coffee I used to consume, I was not too fond of the taste of tea.

But when tea became my only option, I grew into loving it. Now I’m as excited about my cup of English breakfast as I would be about my almond milk latte. These days I don’t just use tea as a substitute for coffee, but I also crave it every day and drink it as a treat like I used to do with coffee.

Final thought

During my 30 day experiment, I discovered that tea could become a good replacement for coffee.

If you’re struggling to cut down your caffeine intake, drinking tea can be a great way to do it. You can easily cut the amount of caffeine you consume in half by replacing your cup of coffee with a cup of tea. This helped me reduce the negative symptoms that were connected with my coffee intake.

I still love coffee and consider it a pretty important part of my life. Even my bio says I do. I’m not sure if I’m ready to say goodbye to it forever. For now, my goal is to cut down on coffee as much as I can and drink it as a treat a couple of times a month.

But for now, I have a great new alternative.