Beginning in 1746, King Gustav III of Sweden, who viewed coffee consumption as a threat to the public health and the existing tea industry, ordered an expirment involving two condemned twin brothers.

One brother drank coffee and the other drank tea dialy for the rest of their lives. Gustav III, assassinated in 1792, died before seeing the final results. Two prominent physicians were monitoring their health. Both physicians died before the experiment was completed. The tea drinker died first at age 83 when the average Swedish life-expectency at the time was 38.