Coffee is the most common beverage with high popularity among adults. However, there is a large amount of caffeine in coffee. On average, there is about 95mg of caffeine in a cup of coffee. Hence the caffeine portion can vary between 0 to 500 mg depends upon different coffee types and different brand coffees. Let’s drill down more deeply to get in detail about caffeine in coffee and to learn more about different coffee types used by different coffee brands.
For centuries, the culture of drinking coffee has been increasing rapidly. These roasted coffee beans marked by different chemical compositions. Yet caffeine is the most active and main ingredient in this finished beverage. Although caffeine is colorless, odorless however bitter when dissolved in water.
Factors That Affect The Content of Caffeine in Coffee
Based upon these following factors all the coffees have unique caffeine content:
Different Coffee Types
The amount of caffeine has significantly varied between freshly brewed coffee to espresso and instant & decaf coffee.
Types of Coffee Beans
Certainly, there are numerous types of coffee beans used by different types of coffee brands. However, each available bean naturally contains a vast amount of caffeine.
Serving Size
The range of “one coffee cup” varies between 30 ml – 700 ml i.e. 1 oz to 24 oz. The amount of each serving size greatly affects the content of caffeine in coffee.
Roasting Texture
The lighter roasted bean has a larger caffeine content than the darker one. However, the aroma and taste of darker roasted bean have a deeper flavor.
Amount of Caffeine in Different Coffee Types
One of the major factors of the amount of caffeine in a coffee proportionally depends upon different coffee types. Here we discussed common types of coffee that people drink on a daily basis.
Brewed Coffee
Brewed coffee or also branded as regular coffee has been made by effectively brewing the grounded coffee beans. Pouring hot or boiling water into the filtered brewed coffee makes this drink most popular and common in the US and Europe.
Usually, a cup of brewed coffee of 8 oz includes between 70 to 140 mg of caffeine, while on an average of 95 mg caffeine.
Espresso
Espresso that contains a large amount of caffeine rather than regular brewed coffee is made by pouring the hot water over the finely grounded coffee beans.
Although this drink has a relatively small serving size as compared to brewed coffee and served as per volume shots. Since the espresso serving tends to be small, the average serving shot of espresso lies between 1 oz to 1.75 (30 ml to 50ml) that roughly on average contains 63 mg of caffeine. One can have 125 mg of caffeine in a coffee shot by doubling the espresso shots.
Espresso Based Drinks
Since the espresso shots are bitter in taste so different people preferred to add few add-on beverages to dilute the sharp bitter caffeine taste. Adding milk is one of the options to balance the taste and enrich your coffee with more delicious taste.
Few other espresso-based drinks include lattes, macchiato, cappuccinos, and Americano are the most popular and highly recommended among people while drinking coffee.
Although the addition of milk and frosting in these espresso-based drinks won’t affect the amount of caffeine in coffee surely it will increase the size of per serving. One can enjoy the same amount of caffeine as straight espresso i.e. 63 mg for small and 125 mg of caffeine for a double cup of coffee.
Instant Coffee
Most people use instant coffee as an option to fulfill their caffeine needs on a daily basis without putting much effort into brewing and filtering the coffee beans. All you need is to add a few teaspoons of coffee along with hot water.
Although instant coffee is made from brewed coffee yet this type of coffee has been preserved freeze dried or spray dried. Generically, large dry pieces that easily dissolved in water.
In instant coffee the amount of caffeine is very less, roughly on an average, each cup contains 30 mg to 90 mg caffeine in coffee.
Decaf Coffee
Decaf or de-caffeinating coffee like its name is not entirely caffeine-free coffee. This type of coffee includes the varying amount of caffeine in a coffee ranges between 0 mg to 7 mg per each cup. However, the average coffee cup contains 3 mg of caffeine.
Furthermore, the variation of caffeine in coffee depends upon methods, amount of decaf and size of the cup.
Different Coffee Brands
Here is the list of the amount of caffeine being served by the popular coffee brands on different serving sizes.
Different Coffee Brands |
Serving Size |
Amount of Caffeine (mg) |
| Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee with Espresso Shot | 20 oz. | 398 |
| Dunkin’ Donuts Cappuccino | 20 oz. | 252 |
| Dunkin’ Donuts Iced Coffee, bottle—Original | 12 oz. | 327 |
| Dunkin’ Donuts Shot in the Dark, can—all flavors | 8.1 oz. | 126-134 |
| Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee | 14 oz. | 210 |
| Starbucks Coffee, Pike Place Roast | 16 oz. | 310 |
| Starbucks Coffee, Blonde Roast | 16 oz. | 360 |
| Panera Coffee, Light Roast | 16 oz. | 307 |
| Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew | 16 oz. | 280 |
| Starbucks Plus 2X Caffeine Keurig K-Cup | 1 K-Cup | 260 |
| Starbucks Cold Brew Cocoa and Honey with Cream, bottle | 11 oz. | 185 |
| Starbucks Coffee, Pike Place Roast | 12 oz. | 235 |
| Starbucks Caffe Americano | 16 oz. | 225 |
| Starbucks Decaf Coffee | 16 oz. | 25 |
| Starbucks Espresso | 0.8 oz. | 75 |
| Starbucks Caffe Mocha | 16 oz. | 175 |
| Starbucks—Caffe Latte or Cappucino | 16 oz. | 150 |
| Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha, bottle | 14 oz. | 150 |
| Starbucks Doubleshot Energy Coffee, can | 15 oz. | 145 |
| Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino, bottle | 16 oz. | 110 |
| Starbucks Coffee Frappuccino, bottle | 16 oz. | 95 |
| Starbucks Coffee Frappuccino, bottle | 9.5 oz. | 93 |
| Starbucks Double shot Protein Caramel, can | 11 oz. | 110 |
| Nespresso Kazaar capsule | 1 capsule | 125 |
| Folgers Ground Coffee, House Blend | 1 Tbs. makes 6 oz. | 60-80 |
| Panera Frozen Mocha | 16 oz. | 144 |
| International Delight- iced coffee or Iced Coffee Light | 8 oz. | 55-65 |
| Califia Farms Café Latte Cold Brew Coffee | 8 oz. | 50 |
| Maxwell House Lite Ground Coffee | 1 Tbs. makes 6 oz. | 25-50 |
| Maxwell House Decaf Ground Coffee | 1 Tbs. makes 6 oz. | 1-5 |
| Maxwell House Regular Ground Coffee | 1 Tbs. makes 6 oz. | 45-100 |
Research FAQs
1. How much you should take caffeine in a coffee on a daily basis?
According to Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, adults should not consume more than 400 mg of caffeine in coffee. However, it is not recommended for children under 12 to take caffeine.
2. What are the other sources of caffeine?
One can take caffeine from other sources rather than coffee are:
- Tea
- Soft drinks
- Energy Drinks
- Chocolates
- Few Fast Food servings
3. What are the effects of taking too much caffeine?
It is safe to take coffee at the moderation level. However, taking too much caffeine can also cause adverse effects. These are the following side effects that can be caused due to taking a high amount of caffeine.
- Restless or jittery
- Anxiety
- Tremors
- Difficulty sleeping or insomnia
- Nausea
- Frequent urination
- Headaches
- Nervousness
- Irritability
- Rapid heartbeat
- Upset stomach
- Diarrhea
4. What are the popular species of plants that produce coffee beans?
There are different types of plants, coffee beans that includes different types of caffeine, however, the most popular plants’ species that produced coffee beans include:
- Coffea Arabica also commonly termed as Arabica
- Coffea Canephora, also known as Robusta
5. What are the factors that affect caffeine content?
There are several factors that affect the content of caffeine in coffee involves:
- The type of beans roasted
- Brewing or preparation method
- The size of the serving
- Amount of ground coffee used during the brewing process.
