Acidic Levels in Coffee Versus Tea

Coffee and tea, two popular breakfast drinks, contain moderate amounts of caffeine and rate on the acid side of the pH scale. If you suffer from heartburn, you may wish to select coffee or tea with less acid. Decrease your intake of caffeine in order to avoid aggravating your digestive system. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Coffee

Coffee's acidity varies greatly depending on the brew method. In most cases, the more ground coffee you use to brew coffee, the more acidic the brew. Additionally, some types of coffee are more acidic than other types. Coffee grown in soil with rich minerals, roasted at high temperatures and grown at high altitudes contains a higher acid content than other brews. Most coffee, including espresso, has a pH between 4.5 and 5.5.

Tea

The acidity of tea is found from tea's tannins. Most herbal teas, such as teas made from ginger, cinnamon or any assortment of herbs, tend to be lower in acid than other types of tea. Black tea has a pH of between 5.0 and 6.0. Green tea is typically lower in acid than black tea and has a higher pH. Tea tends to be more acidic when brewed for longer times or at high temperatures.

Low-Acid Coffee

Some coffee brands specialize in decreasing the acid content of coffee. Most of the time, these companies use an alternative process for brewing coffee which subjects the coffee beans to less heat than traditional methods. Most low acid coffee brands have about 50 percent less acid than their traditional partners. Another method of creating low-acid coffee is using cold brew. To cold brew coffee, you mix coffee grounds with gold water for 12 to 16 hours, then pass the coffee through a filter to remove the coffee grounds.

Other Variables

Coffee and tea made with filtered water tends to be lower in acidity since the impurities in water can increase water's acid content. Adding milk to coffee or tea lowers the total acid content since milk is an alkaline substance. Additionally, adding sugar to coffee or tea increases its acidic effect on the body since the body responds to sugar by producing excess acid. Lemon, though acidic, creates an alkalizing effect when added to tea or coffee.