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A University of British Columbia team found blood uric acid levels - which are linked to the condition - were lower in people who drank more coffee.
But tea had no measurable effect, suggesting that the active ingredient was not caffeine.
The work is published in the journal Arthritis Care and Research.
Condition of the joints
Gout affects about 600,000 people in the UK, with numbers thought to be increasing in recent years.
Its symptoms, which are often joint pains in the lower limbs, happen when uric acid crystallises out of the blood into the joints.
Drinking too much beer, or eating too much red meat are thought to be to blame for many cases.
The main way to tackle the condition is to take anti-inflammatory pills, change diet and drink more water, or in more severe cases, to take more powerful drugs to reduce uric acid levels in the blood.
The latest research looked at the eating habits of 14,000 men and women between 1988 and 1994.
This information was compared with the results from blood tests for uric acid.
No caffeine link Read more...
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