A study of more than 50,000 people in Iran has shown that those who drank 700 ml (about 2 to 3 cups) of black tea a day at 60°C or higher were almost twice as likely to develop esophageal cancer over the next 10 years compared to those who drank tea at lower temperatures. The study investigated the most common type of esophageal cancer in Iran, squamous cell carcinoma, which usually occurs in the upper and middle parts of the esophagus. So to avoid repeatedly burning your mouth and throat with a variety of hot beverages, it’s wise to cool your drinks before consuming them. The researchers considered the following potential confounders: age and gender, wealth, geographic location, ethnicity, education, intake of fresh fruit and vegetables, smoking, and alcohol consumption. They concluded that people who drank tea at 60°C or higher were 41% more likely to develop esophageal cancer than those who drank tea at lower temperatures; those who said they preferred “very hot” tea were more than twice as likely to develop esophageal cancer as those who said they drank “cold/warm” tea; and those who said they drank “cold/warm” tea were more than twice as likely to develop esophageal cancer as those who said they drank “cold/warm” tea. Those who said they liked their tea “very hot” were more than twice as likely to develop esophageal cancer as those who said they drank “cold/warm” tea; and those who waited less than 2 minutes for their tea were 51% more likely to develop cancer than those who waited 6 minutes or more. Combining the temperature of the tea with the number of people who drank it each day, drinking 700ml or more of tea a day at 60°C or higher increased the risk of cancer by 95%. Because there are no known health benefits to drinking very hot beverages, it is recommended that scalding beverages wait to cool down before drinking them. Finally it should also be noted that even though drinking hot tea may increase the risk, the absolute increase in risk would be from less than 1% to 1.2%, which is probably still far less than the risk from the more established risk factors such as alcohol, smoking, diet and obesity, so reducing cancer starts with good diet and lifestyle habits.