ParrotPalParrotPal Data · short read
Coffee vs tea: UK food diaries log coffee almost twice as widely
Key findings
51.3% of UK ParrotPal members logged a coffee at least once between February and August 2026, against 28.2% who logged tea. Latte was the most-named coffee (40.5% of coffee loggers).
Britain may run on tea, but its food diaries run on coffee: 51.3% of members logged a coffee and 28.2% logged tea. Coffee was on 27.7% of fully logged days and tea on 9.9%.
51.3% vs 28.2%logged coffee vs tea
Coffee vs tea, by age
Share of membersTea gains with age: 15.9% of members aged 18–24 logged tea, against 35.0% of those 55 and over. Coffee ranged from 34.2% to 54.4%.
The coffee order: latte (40.5% of coffee loggers), iced coffee (26.1%), flat white (23.6%) and cappuccino (19.6%). Many members just logged “coffee”.
One caution: black tea has almost no calories, so it’s probably logged less often than it’s drunk. Coffee shop drinks carry more calories and get logged.
What this means
In a calorie diary, coffee is the drink that gets written down. That says as much about what people count as about what they drink.
The figures
| Drink: group | Share of members who logged it |
|---|---|
| Coffee: all members | 51.3% |
| Tea: all members | 28.2% |
| Coffee: aged 18–24 | 34.2% |
| Tea: aged 18–24 | 15.9% |
| Coffee: aged 25–34 | 50.6% |
| Tea: aged 25–34 | 24.9% |
| Coffee: aged 35–44 | 53.0% |
| Tea: aged 35–44 | 29.0% |
| Coffee: aged 45–54 | 52.3% |
| Tea: aged 45–54 | 30.9% |
| Coffee: aged 55+ | 54.4% |
| Tea: aged 55+ | 35.0% |
Method in brief. UK ParrotPal members’ anonymised food diaries, 1 February to 31 August 2026 (members whose app is set to UK time; internal accounts and deleted entries left out). A share is the share of members in the group who logged the item at least once, so it counts people, not entries. Coffee includes every coffee type; tea includes black, green and herbal tea.
Aggregates only: every group shown has 50 or more members and no share rests on fewer than 10. Patterns in what members logged, not causes. who’s counted · the 50/10 rule · logged isn’t eaten · how foods are named and counted.
Full report: What Britain logs.
Questions people ask
Do Brits drink more coffee or tea?
In ParrotPal food diaries more members logged coffee (51.3%) than tea (28.2%). Tea is probably under-logged because it has few calories.
What is the most-logged coffee?
Latte, logged by 40.5% of members who logged coffee.
Who logs tea most?
Members aged 55 and over (35.0%).
Cite this
Free to use with credit and a link to the source page. The figures and chart are licensed CC BY 4.0.
Credit line
Source: ParrotPal food diary data, parrotpal.com/data/coffee-vs-tea/
Citation
ParrotPal (2026). Coffee vs tea: UK food diaries log coffee almost twice as widely. ParrotPal Data. https://parrotpal.com/data/coffee-vs-tea/. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Embed the chart (an image with the credit link)
<figure><img src="https://parrotpal.com/data/coffee-vs-tea/chart.svg" alt="Coffee vs tea, by age: chart by ParrotPal" width="760" style="max-width:100%;height:auto" /><figcaption>Source: <a href="https://parrotpal.com/data/coffee-vs-tea/">ParrotPal food diary data</a> (CC BY 4.0)</figcaption></figure>
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Please read. This page reports patterns in anonymised, aggregated app data. It’s general information, not medical or dietary advice.
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