Can You Mix Tea in Coffee?
There are so many different ways to drink coffee and tea. However, have you ever wondered if you could combine the two?
You’ll want to learn some recipes before you give them a try.
You can mix coffee and tea together to make plenty of beverages. Some of the most popular drinks are spreeze, kopi cham, and yuenyeung. You’ll want to track your caffeine intake since it’s easy to drink too much when combining these beverages.
This article covers everything you want to know about mixing coffee and tea.
You have plenty of options to achieve a variety of flavors with recipes from around the world, so let’s begin!
Mixing Coffee and Tea
Coffee and tea go great together. Combining them gives you rich flavors and a caffeine boost to help you through your morning.
It’s also straightforward to mix these two beverages.
The most popular method is brewing a regular cup of coffee, then steeping a tea bag while the coffee’s still hot.
Just let the tea bag sit for a few minutes, and you’ll have what people on the internet call “teafee” or “dirty chai.”
The flavor profile is bitter, with the richness of coffee. You’ll probably like it if you already drink black coffee and plain tea.
The coffee does tend to overpower the tea, so avid coffee drinkers take to this combination well.
You may want to add a sprinkle of sugar to combat the bitter flavor.
However, not everyone will enjoy drinking it like this.
Luckily, there are plenty of different recipes for you to try out.
What Is Coffee and Tea Mixed Together Called?
Coffee and tea mixed together are often called chai lattes, dirty chai, or teafee.
However, there are plenty more names for this drink, depending on where you are.
In traditional recipes, coffee and tea combined are called yuenyeung or kopi cham.
There are many different names for coffee and tea mixtures, so you can call it whatever you’re most comfortable with.
Benefits of Drinking Coffee and Tea Together
Both coffee and tea can come with some health benefits. So, when you drink them together, you can experience them simultaneously.
The most well-known benefit would be increasing your energy levels thanks to the additional caffeine.
However, coffee and tea both contain antioxidants in different types and amounts, allowing you to get more of each.
Here are two general benefits associated with antioxidants:
- Reduced risk of disease, including heart disease and some cancers
- Protects your cells from free radicals
Combining coffee and tea puts more caffeine and antioxidants in your mug.
This combination can be healthy if you don’t add too many other ingredients.
Coffee and Tea Combined in Traditional Recipes
Coffee and tea recipes are extremely popular in many countries.
Below you’ll find some of these traditional beverage recipes to make your own at home.
They’re all relatively simple and don’t require a lot of ingredients, but you still get a rich, full taste with a caffeine boost.
Spreeze, kopi cham, and yuenyeung are some of the most famous drinks containing coffee and tea around the globe—here’s how you can make them:
Spreeze (or Spritz) Recipe
Spreeze, also known as a spritz, is a coffee and tea combination popular in Ethiopia.
It’s easy to make and gives you a nice energy boost. Here’s what you need:
- Black tea
- Espresso
- Sugar
Now, here’s how you can prepare spreeze at home:
- Brew the black tea in a mug.
- Prepare a shot of espresso.
- Add a sprinkle of sugar (or however much you prefer) to the tea.
- Pour the espresso over the tea.
- Serve.
You might like this version more if you don’t like drinking straight espresso shots.
The tea dilutes the espresso, but you still get a lot of caffeine with each sip. It’s refreshing and a quick way to try coffee and tea together.
Kopi Cham Recipe
Next, let’s talk about kopi cham. It’s a very common beverage in Malaysia and brings coffee to a new level.
To make it, you will need the following:
- Black tea
- Concentrated coffee
- Evaporated milk
- Sugar
Here’s how you can make it yourself:
- Boil water in a pot or kettle on the stove.
- Reduce the heat to a low simmer.
- Add your black tea and brew until very dark.
- Take the pot or kettle off the heat and stir in sugar.
- Stir in your evaporated milk.
- Boil the contents of the pot on low for three minutes.
- Remove the tea bags and mix in the coffee.
- Serve.
You can enjoy kopi cham hot or cold. If you want to drink it cold, give it some time to cool, then add ice to your mug.
Pour the drink over it and enjoy.
Yuenyeung (or Yuanyang) Recipe
Yuenyueng, also spelled as yuanyang, is another excellent coffee and tea recipe you should try.
It’s prevalent in Hong Kong and originated to help keep workers awake with a caffeine boost during their long overnight shifts.
Today, it’s very similar to kopi cham, but you prepare a Hong Kong milk tea to go with it.
You will need the following ingredients:
- Black tea
- Condensed milk
- Concentrated coffee
Now, once you have everything, here’s what you should do:
- Boil the black tea in a pot for three minutes.
- Combine the tea with the condensed milk (about 200 ml [6.76 oz] per black tea bag).
- Remove the tea bags.
- Add the condensed coffee.
- Serve.
You’ll want to ensure that you have a good ratio of the ingredients to make good-tasting yuenyeung.
About ⅓ of your drink should be evaporated milk, while the rest is coffee and tea.
You’ll get a great flavor and texture this way.
Plus, it won’t be too bitter or overpoweringly sweet this way. You can also enjoy this drink either hot or cold.
This short YouTube video can help you if you want to make yuenyeung at home:
What Tea Goes Good With Coffee?
Black tea goes great with coffee because it’s strong enough not to get overpowered by how bitter it is.
However, you can use other types of teas and get great results.
For example, green and Earl gray teas also taste good in coffee.
You can even use different herbal teas to add a health boost to your coffee without adding more caffeine to your drink.
However, keep in mind that since these teas usually aren’t as strong, the coffee may overpower them in taste.
Still, it’s an excellent option for many people.
You can even experiment with any kind of tea you want to add to your coffee.
You might be surprised at what different tastes you discover.
There are also tons of recommendations on the internet for you to try out.
In short, everyone likes different types of tea, so you’ll probably find yourself enjoying a specific kind of tea in your coffee more than others.
I recommend you try all your favorite teas and see what sticks for you.
Plus, you’ll likely want to give black and Earl gray a try since most people find they like them in their coffee the most.
Mixing Coffee and Green Tea
Another popular recipe includes combining coffee and green tea. This might sound strange initially, but it offers health benefits.
It is becoming more common in various countries, although it’s most popular in Asia now.
Of course, you’ll get an energy boost from the caffeine and a sharper focus after drinking.
However, the drink may also help you lower your blood sugar, which benefits many.
Plus, green tea already comes with many health benefits.
Combining the two can significantly alter the taste to make it more palatable if you don’t like green tea but enjoy coffee.
It won’t be as bitter as plain black coffee, but still pretty strong.
All you need to do to make it is combine the two drinks in a cup.
I recommend trying a 50/50 ratio of each.
Many people also mix green tea powder directly in a hot cup of coffee and get great results.
Many people like how green tea tastes in coffee, so it’s another excellent option for you to give a try.
Mixing Coffee and Herbal Teas
Lastly, it’s also easy to mix coffee with herbal teas. All you need is to brew your cup of coffee, then steep an herbal tea bag in the hot drink.
You may want to soak the herbal tea longer than the packaging says to because it won’t taste as strong as black tea.
There are so many herbal teas out there, so you’ll want to research them.
Think about the benefits you want from your drink, then choose a tea type to match.
Why Coffee and Tea Mixed Is a Popular Drink
Coffee and tea are mixed together to create trendy drinks worldwide.
It’s suitable for those who need an energy boost, and the tea can alter black coffee’s flavor, giving you more variety and reducing some of that bitterness.
Tea and coffee also generally go great together.
Many traditional drinks feature tea and coffee as well.
Overall, coffee and tea are already two of the most popular beverages on their own.
Hence, it makes sense that there are many ways to combine them today.
Are Coffee and Tea Together Safe To Drink?
It’s safe to combine coffee and tea together. These sorts of drinks are popular in many other areas around the globe, so you can enjoy many different flavors.
However, most people need to be careful about how much caffeine they consume when drinking these beverages.
Drinking too much caffeine can cause headaches, an increased heart rate, and insomnia in many people.
Not to mention, it can cause anxiety and make you shake.
Some people have a much higher caffeine tolerance than others, so they can drink tea and coffee together without problems.
However, some people might be even more sensitive to caffeine.
400 mg (0.014 ounces) of caffeine a day is safe for most adults to have. The average cup of black coffee, which is 8 fl oz (about 237 ml), contains 95 mg (0.003 ounces) of caffeine.
The same amount of black tea contains only 47 mg (0.0016 ounces) of caffeine, but when you combine the two, you’ll have 142 mg (0.005 ounces) of caffeine in your mug.
It’s not an unsafe amount, as long as you don’t drink too many cups of this combination.
Overall, you’ll want to keep your caffeine intake below 400 mg daily, so a few cups of coffee and tea together wouldn’t harm you.
Using coffee with less caffeine content can help those with stronger reactions to caffeine enjoy these drinks more.
What Happens When You Drink Tea and Coffee Together?
When you drink tea and coffee together, you get more caffeine in each sip. So, you can experience benefits from caffeine faster.
However, that also means you can receive adverse effects from caffeine faster, especially if you’re sensitive to it.
Most of the time, nothing happens when you drink a cup of coffee and tea together.
Although, if you drink too much or have caffeine sensitivities, you might feel jittery and nervous or experience other reactions to too much caffeine.
That said, most people are fine as long as they monitor their caffeine intake.
Don’t forget that these beverages are extremely popular worldwide, and many people drink them daily just fine.
Only those with sensitivities will have a reaction to these beverages.
Overall, there’s nothing wrong with mixing coffee and tea together.
You might even realize you love it.
Final Thoughts
To summarize, you can mix coffee and tea together easily by steeping your tea bags in your hot coffee.
This combined beverage is very popular worldwide, and you can even find many different traditional recipes featuring it.
You’ll get a lot more caffeine in a cup of the two together, so you’ll need to be careful if you’re sensitive to caffeine.
However, it’s not dangerous or harmful to drink the two together.
Why not give it a try today and see if you like it?
Sources
- Tea Just: Can You Really Drink Coffee and Tea Together?
- PERFECT DAILY GRIND: Yuenyeung, Kopi Cham & Spreeze: Mixing Coffee & Tea Around The World
- The Spruce Eats: Hong Kong Yuanyang: Coffee With Tea
- The Daily Edge: People are mixing tea and coffee together and drinking it
- Mayo Clinic: Caffeine: How much is too much?
- Red Path Sugar: Kopi Cham
- YouTube: SON OF HONG KONG: Yuen Yeung Hong Kong Style Milk Tea (Tea & Coffee Mixture)
- Eleven Coffees: Which Coffee Has the Least Caffeine? A Detailed Guide
- Healthline: Coffee vs. Tea: Is One Healthier Than the Other?
- Better Health Channel: Antioxidants
- Tea Crossing: Why Mix Green Tea With Coffee? 4 Healthy Reasons Plus Steps
