The drinking of coffee is a socially practiced custom in almost every culture across the world and is a universally popular beverage. Countless early commuters flock to their favorite coffee house for their morning "pick-me-up" or "fix." For many, the joy of coffee lies beyond its caffeine-boost. Much like wine brewing and tasting is an art, so too has the roasting and tasting of coffee become. The endless varieties of coffee beans, roasting methods, preparation, and presentation offer flavors for all coffee lovers to enjoy. Master tasters of gourmet coffee engage in what is known as "coffee cupping." Participants critically taste the coffee and judge it based on taste, texture, sweetness, acidity, flavor, and aftertaste. Much research has been done to determine the possible health effects and benefits of coffee, concluding that its caffeine content may cause harmful effects. Benefits may include lowering chances of developing heart disease, dementia, and Alzheimer's.

Another popular caffeinated beverage used anciently and modernly is tea; tea is the second most widely consumed beverage besides water. The process of brewing tea is as varied and diverse as brewing coffee, with myriad of flavors resulting. The basic process is done by steeping water with leaves, herbs, or flowers. The four most commonly types of tea found on the market are black tea, oolong tea, green tea, and white tea. Unlike coffee, tea is known to have a vaster array of health benefits. Any tea deriving from camellia sinensis is proven to cancer-fighting properties as well as antioxidants. Tea also has fluoride for strong, essentially no calories, and about half the amount of caffeine than in an equally-sized cup of coffee. However, because caffeine is a natural component of tea, it's not yet known whether removing caffeine from tea removes its polyphenols, or antioxidants, as well.