Are tea people cat people?

As a tea lover and cat mom of two (but also an animal lover in general), I’ve always wondered whether there is a connection between being a tea drinker and being a cat lover. There seems to be a recurring pattern but is it true or is it just a misconception or a stereotype?

To get a sense of the matter and only scratch the surface of it, I turned to social media, Instagram specifically, and looked up two hashtags.

#catsandtea 1000+ posts

#teaandcats 1000+ posts

Not wildly popular compared to other tea-related hashtags (#tea has 35.4 million posts), they both depict mostly female tea drinkers and tea in mugs, which I assume indicates Western tea brewing (teapot or infuser basket in a mug or tea bag).

Then I searched for:

#teaanddogs 100+ posts

#dogsandtea 100+ posts

Given that cats and dogs seem to be equally popular on social media, I did not expect that. 

In my quest to find answers to my existential question, I found out that my fellow tea blogger and dear friend Cody aka The Oolong Drunk had addressed a similar topic “The Correlation Between Puer and Cat People” back in 2017. Intrigued, I thought I’d ask my newsletter subscribers (by the way, are you subscribed to my newsletter?).

Here are the results of that survey.

Number of participants: 58

Question 1: Do you consider yourself a tea person?
100% yes

Question 2: If YES, how much tea do you drink in a day?
22.4% 1-2 cups
77.6% 3+ cups

Question 3: What tea brewing style do you prefer?
60.3% Traditional / Eastern style (gong fu, ceremonial, gaiwan, chawan, ...)
36.2% Western style (infuser basket in mug, teapot, ...)
3.4% tea bags

Question 4: If you ARE a tea person, do you like cats?
34.5% Yes, I love them and I'm a cat parent
22.4% Yes, I like them but I'm NOT a cat parent
22.4% Yes, but I like dogs as much as cats
12.1% I'm neutral about cats
8.6% No, I don't like cats

Question 5: If you like cats and are a tea person, what teas do you drink the most?
29% black
21.8% oolong
18.1% pu erh / fermented
16.3% green 16.3%
5.4% flavored blends (Earl Grey, chai, ...)
3.6% white
3.6% herbal

Question 6: If you are a tea drinker and love cats, do you consider yourself an introvert?
39.6% yes, I consider myself an introvert
22.4% did not answer the question
17.2% no, I consider myself an extrovert
17.2% I’m a bit of both / I consider myself an ambivert
5.1% I don’t like cats therefore it does not apply to me

Question 7: Why are tea drinkers frequently associated with cats?

This was an open question. 11 participants out of 58 had never heard about it or thought about it. Here are my favorite responses, which summarize very well ideas expressed by other fellow participants.

“It may have something to do with the calm aspect of tea. Cats (at least mine) can be zen.”

“Is that a zen koan?
Curling up with pu-erh tea
to purr on that question.”

“Tea is calming and soothing and is a very laid-back thing to do. Cats seem to really vibe with that environment and so naturally tea people and cats are basically the same.”

“Drinking tea is a very introspective, quiet act. Even when shared, there’s an intentionality to it that I think attracts introverts. Cats have this playful and still calming demeanor that is reflected in the tea table which is why tea drinkers and cats are likely often associated.”

“Spending the time to make tea on a regular basis is associated with comfort, home, serenity, and the finer things in life. I think cats’ atmospheres also exude these same feelings. I wouldn’t think to connect the words peaceful and delicate with dogs...but as for cats, certainly! These feelings associated with tea and cats naturally tie together.”

“I think in general most women are tea drinkers therefore the generalization is that most women are also cat people.”

“It is probably more of a Western image, I doubt in China and other regions of the East that tea drinkers are niche enough to be associated with a specific type of pet.”

“I think part of it is the mental image of some British academic, (enforced by cultural stereotypes and self-categorization) sitting by the fire with a book and a cat and a mug of tea. And part of it is the kind of behaviour cats and dogs have. Not that there aren't laid back, calm dogs, but I think cats would more easily contribute to a calmer space, associated with tea.”

79.3% of the tea drinkers who participated in my survey like cats. But like any other survey it’s not perfect. Ideally, there would be a follow-up survey to uncover more data and details.

Why are tea drinkers frequently associated with cats?

Can you see how words like “calm”, “calming”, “peaceful” and “zen” are recurring? Tea seems to be a beverage conducive to introspection, mindfulness and relaxation and cats seem to embody those aspects. At least when they don’t have the zoomies.

Tea drinkers seek introspection. If they do, they must be introverts. Introverts like cats. Therefore tea drinkers like cats.

But there’s more. Women drink tea. Women like cats, therefore tea drinkers like cats. Ah! Exactly like my Instagram search for related hashtags.

Are these associations stereotypical? Are our brains tricking us into creating similar patterns and influencing our perception? Maybe. I can tell you though that most of my tea friends are male and most of my tea friends, regardless of their gender, love cats.

What do you think? What is your experience?