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Tea School  /  July 19, 2019  /  Updated October 1, 2021

What to Choose When You Want to Switch from Coffee to Tea + GIVEAWAY!

by Tea Cachai

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I’ve made it my personal mission to help coffee drinkers find teas they like, after being asked for advice so many times about what tea to choose when you want to switch from coffee to tea. I find a lot of coffee drinkers who say they want to stop drinking it for health reasons but they need something to replace it with. Most of them don’t know where to start or feel discouraged about tea because they’ve never tried a good one, except for chamomile (which is not an actual tea btw).

(***Update: Giveaway closed)

What to choose when you want to switch from coffee to tea(Please note this post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you click through and make a purchase. I only recommend products I’ve tried and liked. Thanks for supporting my blog!)

The majority of tea consumed in the West is poor quality tea in tea bags. Just like wine, there’s the flat and cheap boxed wine, and there are complex, elegant and expensive wines. The same goes for tea. Many exclusive coffee drinkers have only tried low-quality tea and aren’t impressed (I don’t blame them!).

Hopefully, this post will be a guide to help choose better tea for those looking to switch from coffee to tea or just wanting to expand their options. Always choose loose leaf and use a simple tea strainer to brew.


RELATED: Basic Tea Tools to Get Started

What tea to choose when you want to switch from coffee to tea

‘What do you like about coffee?’ After questioning many coffee drinkers, I got a few answers about why they drink it. Some said because they like the taste, some because they need the caffeine, others mentioned that it’s a staple in their routine and some said they only drink it because they like a hot drink in the morning and it’s their go-to.

Switching from Coffee to Tea

Why do some coffee drinkers want to switch to tea? Some people need to switch for health reasons and others don’t want to quit coffee but they just want to expand their horizons or go for something healthier. Most health reasons are due to the side effects of caffeine in coffee like insomnia, agitation, upset stomach, increased heart rate, to name a few.

To Replace Caffeine

Tea has less caffeine than coffee and it doesn’t cause a crash after the big energy boost that coffee does, instead it provides a steady energy boost and alertness. This is because the caffeine in tea is released more slowly due to its chemical composition. Also, tea has an amino acid called l-theanine that induces relaxation without any sedative effects and paired with caffeine, it helps increase focus and attention. 

Matcha is always my top recommendation for people wanting to switch from coffee to tea and need caffeine because it has high levels plus many health benefits. Because we ingest the entire leaf instead of drinking just an infusion, a cup of Matcha delivers all the nutrients (10x more antioxidants than regular green tea) and caffeine content of the green tea leaves used to make it. 
These are my favorite Matcha: Matchaeologist Misaki for traditional style Matcha and Meiko for lattes, Ippodo is a great one too and Encha sachets are the best to take on-the-go.

Although Yerba Mate is not exactly tea (doesn’t come from the Camellia Sinensis plant), it’s another good alternative to replace coffee and get enough caffeine. You can drink it South American style or you can also brew it as a regular tea. Some options to try are traditional Mate, roasted Mate or a flavored blend.

Pu-erh and Black tea are also good alternatives to get caffeine. They work well with milk too. Zest Tea claims to have teas with 3x more caffeine than regular black, that’s 150 mg of caffeine per cup and they do this by enhancing it with natural tea extract.

In terms of numbers and for reference, this is the average caffeine content of an 8oz cup of different drinks (based on averages found online):

-> Coffee (regular brewed) has around 100-150 mg of caffeine.
-> Yerba Mate (3 gms) has around 95 mg of caffeine.
-> Matcha (1 tsp) contains close to 70 mg of caffeine.
-> Ripe Pu-erh has between 60-70 mg of caffeine.
-> Black Tea has between 50-90 mg of caffeine.
-> Oolong‘s caffeine levels can vary depending on its oxidation, but it can range from 10 to 75 mg.
-> Raw Pu-erh contains between 30-45 mg of caffeine.
-> Green Tea contains around 30 mg of caffeine.
-> White Tea mostly contains low levels of caffeine between 10-25 mg but some have up to 60 mg.
-> Herbal Tea has 0 caffeine.

To Drink During Your Break

For some, coffee is a staple in their routine and they drink it during their break at work, meeting friends or in their alone time to relax. 

What tes to choose when you want to switch from coffee to tea

Speaking of time, unrelated and because I know you’re wondering, I wanted to tell you about my new wood watch. My Jord (pronounced Yode) has a very unique style and you can see its good quality and craftsmanship from a distance compared to other wood watches, which I’ve always found to be so cool but often low quality. A few things I love about this brand is that you can engrave the backplate for free when you order, they size the watch band to the recipient and they have free worldwide shipping! If you’re wondering, I got the CASSIA women’s wood watch in olive & aegean blue. 


If coffee is your go-to and you want something healthier, here are my recommendations for different times of the day:

-> Morning: If you put milk in your coffee, you might want to try a tea latte or a Matcha latte. Some of my favorite options for lattes are Hojicha latte (low caffeine), Matcha latte, some flavored black tea latte (I love a chocolate black tea latte) and Chai latte.  

If you prefer to have a straight drink, then you might want something with more caffeine like a strong and bold Assam, a traditional style hot Matcha or a Ripe Pu-erh. If you can’t have caffeine then you can go for a Rooibos or even a dark roast Hojicha (very little caffeine).

-> Afternoon: A classic Earl Grey, a good Green tea (to aid digestion), a Raw Pu-erh or a Light Oolong. 

-> Evening or Night Time: I tend to stay away from heavily caffeinated teas after 5 pm and I often go for herbal teas. Some herbal teas can even promote relaxation and help get a good night’s sleep. How does Chamomile tea while reading a book sound, right before bed? Other great herbal teas for night time are Lemon Balm, Lavender, Peppermint or a nice sleepy tea blend.

RELATED: Make Your Own Night-Time Herbal Tea Blend
 

If You Love The Taste of Coffee

Compared to tea, coffee has a stronger roasted flavor with a full body. Some people love more complex flavor notes and like to discover different coffee from different regions.

For those who like complex flavors and have a more developed palate (which is totally trainable!), I recommend exploring different types of raw Pu-erh and Oolong. Good quality ones can be steeped multiple times getting different flavors and notes from every steep. 

Oolong is the tea type with the most varieties within it because the levels of oxidation during processing may vary from 10-80%. It is a great tea type to explore and fall in love with. Some people get samplers to discover a range, which can be a good starting point.

If you love how coffee tastes, then you might want to try some teas that have similar flavor characteristics like earthy, woody and roasted notes. Another aspect to consider is body. Many coffee drinkers prefer full-bodied teas. I recommend you to try the following:

Taste -> Ripe Pu-erh, Dark Hojicha, Russian Caravan. If you need something that tastes like coffee but has zero caffeine, you might want to try roasted barley (I really liked this one!).

Body ->Breakfast Blend, Ripe Pu-erh, Assam.

 

You will never find a tea that tastes exactly like coffee, but that being said, when you switch from coffee to tea you might find a tea or several ones that you love. Try different, good quality teas and you might be surprised. You might even fall head over heels in love with tea… that’s my hope!

Stay connected and make sure to subscribe to the blog for lots of tea information, recipes, coupons (for many of the recommended teas in this post) and ideas. Thanks! 

This post was made in collaboration with JORD
Enter the GIVEAWAY to earn a $100 Jord gift card. 

 

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What to Choose When You Want to Switch from Coffee to Tea

How to SWITCH from COFFEE to TEA

What to Choose When You Want to Switch from Coffee to Tea

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1 comment

  • Halmari Tea
    August 16, 2019

    Thank you for all of the useful information. Like all the points you have made. Also, make people more aware of this wonderful drink.

Comments are closed.

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🙋🏻‍♀️ I often get asked what's the bes 🙋🏻‍♀️ I often get asked what's the best way to sweeten tea, and I guess the right answer is whatever works for each person! ⁣
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Personally, I only add a little Monkfruit when I drink lattes, but I drink unsweetened, unflavored tea most of the time.⁣
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For a special treat 🎁 , I sometimes make naturally flavored simple syrup. I was #gifted this travel electric kettle with temperature control by @buydeem_global and I love that you can use it to infuse too because of the strainer on its lid. ⁣
It has 3 temperature settings and 3 timer options to hold the temp.⁣
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🌹 I made a honey rose simple syrup by boiling water, then steeping the rose petals for 7-10 minutes in the kettle, and combining the steeped rose tea and honey (1 part each). I immediately used it to sweeten my Earl Grey Latte (aka 🇬🇧 London Fog!).⁣
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The kettle is perfect for travel and moving it around, and the 60•C temp is perfect for making Japanese Green Tea (and I love that it holds the temperature so I can use it instead of my thermal bottle). The only downside is that it takes a bit longer to boil water, but the practicality of it is unbeatable!

If you ever do so, what’s your favorite way to sweeten your tea?
✨Advent Calendar season is almost here! (You sti ✨Advent Calendar season is almost here! (You still have time to get yours if you haven’t for this year).⁣
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Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, it is a great opportunity to try different teas  and explore from several companies who offer them (if you not into the countdown, wait for after season sales!).⁣
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💓 I have my favorites for this year ➡️ (link in bio!). ⁣
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Did you get one? If so, which one did you get or are excited to try?
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I don’t think I can live without Matcha 🍵(can you?).⁣
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For real, if you want to try 3 different and excellent types of Matcha from @naokimatcha for FREE (just pay $0.99 for shipping) go to the link in my bio (𝘯𝘢𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘢.𝘤𝘰𝘮/𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦/𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘢-𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘳-𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬) and order with the code 𝐍𝐀𝐎𝐊𝐗𝐓𝐂𝐂. ⁣
You’ll get 3 sachets of different blends: Superior Ceremonial Blend, Fragrant Yame Blend, and Chiran Harvest (my favorite! So smooth, with a buttery texture, and sweet, nutty, umami flavor)⁣
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Great for drinking on their own, in the morning or for that post-lunch slump (my energy pill 💊 !) or for making a hot or iced latte. ⁣
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I personally love, drink and recommend @naokimatcha a lot and love collaborating with them because they have really good Matcha 💚 if it’s good, I gotta spread the word!⁣
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Lmk if you’ve tried any of these blends
A new tea book is out and it’s by my friend Nico A new tea book is out and it’s by my friend Nicole from @teaformeplease !! 🎊🎉⁣
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I’m super happy to be one of the first to get this book (you can get yours on Amazon - release day May 17th).⁣
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✔️ It’s full of super fun tea based drink recipes and some baked goods too. You can find iced, hot, lattes, cocktails & mocktails and boba too. It’s a great book for tea lovers who would like to explore more ways to enjoy it and learn how versatile tea is. ⁣
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If you’re building a tea book library 📚 , this one is a must, and a great book to gift to any tea lover 💜.⁣
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🔥 Congratulations again Nicole on this amazing achievement!
Over a month into Spring 🌸 and I can see my te Over a month into Spring 🌸  and I can see my tea preferences starting to change. I’ve been drinking fresher feeling and more cooling teas, such as green, lightly oxidized Oolong, etc. (Here I’m enjoying a lovely Dragonwell green tea).⁣
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Now that I live in FL, so many people ask how can I drink tea with the heat, but when inside I’m always always drinking tea, same as before! Still, cooling teas can be great to regulate body temperature and even reduce the perceived heat 🥵.⁣
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💝 Love serving tea to friends who come by my place for any reason. This lovely kettle + cups set is from @kitchen_kite and I LOVE it. It has a big stainless steel infuser to steep the tea and 4 delicate double-walled glass small cups to serve tea. So elegant! (It is also stovetop safe and dishwasher safe) #gifted ⁣
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What have you been drinking this Spring?
👉🏻Here’s a super interesting one:⁣ Sweet 👉🏻Here’s a super interesting one:⁣
Sweet potato plant leaves tea 😮 . It’s a herbal tea made from sweet potato plants in the Laoshan district in China, and processed similarly to black tea.⁣
It’s the first time I tried it and I was blown away by it. I love trying rare teas and herbal infusions and this was a special one! ⁣
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🔎It is roasted 5, yes FIVE times to stop oxidation, so it’s a very time consuming tea to produce. Farmers in the area are shifting from harvesting crops to making tea because it’s more profitable as demand for this type of tea is increasing 🥔.⁣
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☕️ I brewed it at 200•F and it had a strong sweet potato and savory aroma. I would have expected more sweetness to it but I was surprised with its brightness and how soupy/brothy it tastes. I also found some cooked spinach notes. Overall a fantastic experience ⭐️. ⁣
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I got this tea from @verdanttea (#gifted) which I sincerely can’t recommend enough.⁣
💚They are a truly transparent company, which I know many people appreciate tremendously, and pick their partners (farming families) carefully according to their values (sustainability, quality & craftsmanship, etc). They honor them by highlighting their teas and stories and focus on them and their teas rather than their own brand.⁣ They carry AMAZING tea & teaware!
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Have you ever tried this tea❓
Happy last Matcha Monday 🍵 of the year! Wishing Happy last Matcha Monday 🍵 of the year! Wishing you all a wonderful 2022 filled with joy and health 🙌🏼.⁣
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Matcha is one of my favorite things to help boost my energy⚡️. Besides loving its flavor, color and preparation process and ceremony, the calm alertness and energy that it provides is so appreciated! ⁣
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I love a Matcha latte in the morning and a traditional Matcha cup/bowl after lunch to get over that slump😊.⁣
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Do you take Matcha to boost your energy or just because you like it? 💚
👋Happy Monday!⁣ I wanted to share about one o 👋Happy Monday!⁣
I wanted to share about one of the most luxurious tea gifts I’ve ever received. If you’re looking to really 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 someone and want to splurge, then I absolutely recommend this @samovartea gift box (You, Me and a Cup of Tea).⁣
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It comes with a 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 well curated variety of 5 loose leaf teas, including a herbal blend that works amazing as a cold brew and a chocolate Pu-erh that makes a killer latte!⁣
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It also comes with one of my favorite tea brewing accessories, the brewing teapot, a tea scoop and a lovely tea guide with brewing directions.⁣
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Pictured is one of my favorite teas of the box, California Persian: a black tea blend with cardamom, rose blossoms, jasmine and orange zest. It is a beautiful, elegant and well balanced blend that works perfectly well for an afternoon tea setting. It has strong rose 🌹 and some citric notes (I like brewing it at 195 F for 3 minutes).⁣
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Again, I was wowed by the luxurious tea experience of this box #gifted. Everything is so well put together and the packaging is designed with an amazing eye for aesthetics and attention to detail.⁣
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Would you like this as a gift? (Hint: I promise you would! 😜)
🤔 How many of you doubt about buying certain te 🤔 How many of you doubt about buying certain teas online because you’re not sure you’ll like them?⁣
Or how about that guilty feeling of ‘I REALLY (this time really!) shouldn’t buy anymore tea? (Would getting sample sizes make you feel better? 😜)⁣
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💡 I put together a list of companies that offer very reasonably priced (and some even FREE 💸 ) tea samples for you to try before you commit to buying larger quantities (𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐈𝐎).⁣
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This is also great for people who want to get deeper into tea and want to try many different types without having to invest too much.⁣
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✨ I wish I had a resource like this one back in the day when I was starting with my tea romance. Now you have it, enjoy!
Does this Monday feel super slow or is it me? 🙌 Does this Monday feel super slow or is it me?
🙌🏼 I’m recharging my energy this morning with a delicious latte from @favatea ‘s holiday sampler (#gifted). This tea is called Frosty’s Brew and it is a black te with white chocolate and orange… very indulgent! I feel the holiday season calls for exploring blends that I wouldn’t try often and of course, making them into lattes!
This sampler box had several teas that make great lattes, even some Rooibos ones that my kids enjoyed! (After my 6-yo son tried a tea latte he would’t go back to regular tea! 😂)
💡 Remember: for lattes use at least double the amount of tea that you would usually use to make a regular cup. We’re looking to make a concentrate. Always add more leaves, not more time!
✨Matcha tasting time 🍵 This was a fun one! @ ✨Matcha tasting time 🍵 This was a fun one!

@naokimatcha launched a very limited tasting set of 3 Matcha where only 1 will be added to their line. The blends are named after their region of origin: Uji, Wazuka and Nishio. 

It was really hard to pick a favorite because all 3 were delicious, fresh and good quality Matcha (#gifted). But overall my favorite was Uji Harmony: It was delightfully sweet, smooth but thick and creamy with little grassiness and a perfect umami balance. Its color is a bright, vibrant green that only reflect freshness and quality.
The two other blends were excellent as well, I found the Wazuka blend great for beginners because it was less umami, smooth and ‘cleaner’.

Have you tried any of these? (Get their Matcha tasting set with 20% off on their website)
I’ve been obsessed 🤩 about Nepalese Black tea I’ve been obsessed 🤩 about Nepalese Black teas lately, and when this came in the mail I was soooo happy!⠀
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I got a new #teasubscriptionbox to try (#gifted 🎁) and I was very excited about their concept. @atlasteaclub does monthly boxes focused on a single origin and aims to take the customer through a journey around the world 🌍. In my box came a Black tea, Kumari Gold (pictured) and a White tea. You can choose 1 or 2 teas with your subscription plan and each tea pouch contains fresh and good quality leaves 🌱 and a brewing guide. There’s also a beautiful postcard that comes in the box with information about the current month’s origin.⠀
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On to the tea ☕️ ➡️ This Kumari Gold was sweet and smooth with strong cooked fruit notes and some slight woodiness. It is delicate and elegant, like manny Nepalese Black teas.⠀
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If you haven’t tried Nepalese teas, I would recommend you to try its Black tea. (Try 190-195 F for 3.30 min)
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