This word riddle asks you to stop thinking about the drinks themselves and pay attention to the spelling of the words.
The clue says: “You see me twice in ‘coffee’ but only once in ‘tea.’ What am I?”
The answer is the letter E.
The word coffee ends with two E’s, while the word tea contains just one E. Nothing about flavor, temperature, or caffeine matters here—the puzzle is entirely about letters.
That is why this riddle can be surprisingly tricky. Many people immediately start comparing coffee and tea as beverages instead of looking at the written words. Once you focus on the spelling, the pattern becomes obvious. It is a classic example of a simple letter riddle that hides the answer in plain sight.
