I chose "I drink both 2-4", but it depends on where I am... when I'm in the States, it's practically coffee all day (sometimes none, most often one or two, when I'm stressed upto five)... but even though my parents drink tea, I typically can't be bothered brewing it properly...
But when I'm in India? God help me... I drink three to six cups of chai every day... not only cause it's really good, but there's always someone else ready to give you some...
I love it... you go to someone's house, and you're not leaving without chai and sweetmeats (mishti or mithaayi). And there are tea vendors every two feet on the roads... It gets to be quite a problem...
I generally always drink one cup of coffee in the morning.
As far as the rest of the day, the doses vary depending on many factors:
- How many hours of physical activity during the week I am doing: if I am cycling intensely 20+ hours a week, I can drink up to 4 coffees a day, if I am not doing anything I may only drink the one in the morning, if I am going to the gym and running I will take another one after lunch usually.
- How near are finals: I try to make my caffeine-intake follow a parabola-like pattern with the peak around 2 days before the final: this allows me to be sufficiently revved up and concentrated up until the 2 days before; then while I cut the intake off the tension for the exam increases, and the two effects tend to cancel out - this makes my level of stress remain constant and allows me to avoid pre-exam anxiety - the caffeine withdrawal dumbs my nervous system down a little so that the nervousness is absorbed.
I'm very sensitive to caffeine. If I drink a coffee after 5 pm, I can't sleep at night.
Have you ever tried switching to tea around the exam itself? From what I've read it's supposed to have a simultaneous destressing effect (from theanine) which counters the caffeine's stimulating effect.