[ivm]

> There is nothing special about tea that breaks the rules of caffeine.

There's definitely something special, just poorly studied: typical "how much caffeine is in X?" tables show tea having caffeine levels similar to coffee, but I never feel the same effects.

> Caffeine pills generally have really high dosages, FYI.

I use 200 mg tablets split into quarters for doses of 50–100 mg. Yet, they produce a much milder curve than coffee (which I no longer drink) and, as a side effect, cause no gastrointestinal side effects!

[Aurornis]

> typical "how much caffeine is in X?" tables show tea having caffeine levels similar to coffee,

I have never seen a caffeine comparison table that shows tea and coffee at the same level.

It’s common knowledge that typical coffee brews are in the range of 2-5X higher in caffeine content than typical tea brews.

Tea is widely used as a lower caffeine alternative to coffee.

[ivm]

Quick search shows various infographics: green tea at 20–35 mg, black tea at 45–50 mg, espresso at 45–75 mg, and instant at 60-80 mg on average. The day I feel anything close from a cup of black tea to what I get from an instant coffee or a quarter of a pure caffeine pill, I might start trusting those numbers, but for now I see them as nonsense that tries to present as science.

[seba_dos1]

There are also other ingredients in coffee and tea that may affect caffeine's effect (L-theanine in many teas for example). Same with energy drinks, these will have a different effect even when the same caffeine intake is the same due to presence of taurine.