Tea vs coffee: what the drinks index actually holds

Coffee is still the bigger list

The drinks index holds 240 coffees and 485 non-coffee drinks. Within the non-coffee half, 160 items are tagged juice and 66 are tagged tea, with smaller groups for hot chocolate (13) and alcohol (4). Coffee is not just bigger; it is the only category present in all 120 destinations.

Coffees are a category of their own; juice, tea, chocolate and alcohol are tags that can overlap with other drinks.

The destinations where tea appears more than once

4 destinations index at least two tea-tagged drinks: Bhutan, Japan, Nepal and Taiwan. Elsewhere, tea usually appears once, alongside coffee and a juice or soft drink. That is a useful signal: in most of the index, tea is an option, not the default.

The map: tea-tagged drinks by destination

Juice is the bigger surprise

Juice is the largest non-coffee tag: 160 drinks, more than double the tea count. The index treats fresh juice, sugarcane juice and coconut water as everyday orders rather than specialities, which is why the tag appears in so many destinations. If you are choosing between tea and juice with a meal, the data says juice is the more widely indexed option, but tea is the more culturally specific one.

How to order tea and coffee together

In destinations where tea is the default, coffee can be an afterthought: instant, very sweet, or served only at certain hours. Ask what the house drink is before ordering a latte. In destinations where coffee leads, tea may arrive as a herbal infusion rather than a strong black cup. The coffee vocabulary study covers the coffee half of this menu in more detail.

Where to start

Begin with the destinations where tea appears at least twice: Bhutan drinks guide, Japan drinks guide, Nepal drinks guide and Taiwan drinks guide. Then compare with a coffee-first city such as Colombia, Ethiopia and Italy, where the coffee list carries the ritual.

Tea vs coffee: common questions

More food data

• Cost indexGlobal food cost indexAll 120 destinations compared on budget, mid-range and premium price bands.
• Vegetarian mapVegetarian food mapWhere vegetarian-tagged dishes are thickest on the menu, ranked by country and region.
• Halal indexHalal food indexWhere halal-tagged dishes cluster, and what the tag does and does not certify.
• Seafood indexSeafood on the menuFish and shellfish dishes ranked by destination, from the Maldives to Portugal.
• Noodle beltThe noodle beltThe destinations that lean on noodles, from Vietnamese pho to Italian pasta.
• Pork and alcoholPork and alcohol mapTwo menu signals that change how you order, and where each one shows up.

Browse all food statistics