The word of the law vs. the spirit or the law. The rule was made because the maker(s) of the rule (Joseph Smith? or Brigham Young?) didn't think people should consume caffeine (or believed that God was of that opinion) and as tea and coffee were the only sources at the time, that was the prohibition. So, the rule is no coffee or tea, but the spirit is no caffeine.
I am reminded of working in a Jewish teaching hospital. As the rule is that Jews can't use machines on the Sabbath, there is a Sabbath elevator that goes up and down stopping at every floor. It allows those that are observant to skirt the rule (I will always argue that pushing a button or not, they are using a machine) by getting on the Sabbath elevator and not interacting with the machine. But then there are the cheaters who will get on a regular elevator behind someone else and ask them to push the button for them. Obeying the word of the law but not the spirit. I wonder how God would look upon it, especially if you shouldn't be using a machine on the Sabbath but you coerce someone to use it on your behalf; isn't that somehow worse?
Or maybe I think about these things too much.
