Short answer: an 8-ounce (240 ml) cup of brewed coffee has about 95 mg of caffeine. A single espresso shot has about 63 mg. Those are the USDA and Mayo Clinic reference figures. The cup you actually drink can be far off them. Espressos bought in coffee shops have measured anywhere from 25 to 214 mg.
That spread is the real answer. There’s no such thing as «the caffeine in coffee», only the caffeine in a specific brew at a specific dose. Below are the numbers by drink, the daily limits set by the agencies that set them, and which brewing variables actually move the needle.
Sourced figures, not medical advice. Every number on this page comes from the FDA, EFSA, the USDA or peer-reviewed research, each one cited at the end. If you need to control your caffeine intake for a medical reason, that call belongs to your doctor, not to a table.
Caffeine by drink
| Drink | Serving | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brewed / drip coffee | 8 fl oz (240 ml) | 95 mg | 71-165 mg |
| Espresso | 1 fl oz (1 shot) | 63 mg | 63-75 mg |
| Instant coffee | 8 fl oz | 62 mg | 61-62 mg |
| Americano | 16 fl oz (Grande) | 225 mg | 75-300 mg |
| Latte | 16 fl oz (Grande) | 150 mg | 75-150 mg |
| Cappuccino | 16 fl oz (Grande) | 150 mg | 75-150 mg |
| Cold brew | 16 fl oz (Grande) | 205 mg | 155-360 mg |
| Decaf, brewed | 8 fl oz | 2 mg | 1-15 mg |
One note on lattes and cappuccinos: they contain exactly the caffeine of the espresso shots poured into them. Milk adds none and removes none. A 16 oz latte and a 16 oz cappuccino both come to 150 mg because both carry two shots. What differs is the milk and the foam, not the caffeine.
Why the same cup varies so much
Three measurements make this hard to argue with, and all three are inconvenient for anyone who wants a single number.
Between different shops. Researchers bought 97 espressos from commercial outlets in one region and assayed each one: the mean came to 106 mg, but the range ran from 25 to 214 mg. An independent HPLC analysis of 20 espressos from Glasgow coffee shops found a median of 140 mg and a range of 51 to 322 mg, a factor of six between smallest and largest. The authors put the variation down mostly to how much coffee each barista used.
At the same shop, on different days. This is the finding that surprises people. The same 16 oz brewed coffee, the same menu item, bought at the same outlet on six consecutive days, ranged from 259 to 564 mg. More than double, with nothing about the order changed.
Between bean species. Robusta carries considerably more caffeine than arabica: 2.08 % of dry weight in green beans against 1.24 % in the same trial. Brought into the cup under identical conditions (same 7 g pod, same 25 ml, same machine, water at 90 °C), the robusta espresso measured 89 mg and the arabica 65 mg, a 37 % difference.
What actually changes your caffeine, and what doesn’t
It does: the dose of ground coffee and the coffee-to-water ratio. In a moka pot, going from 40 g per 500 ml to 10 g per 50 ml multiplies concentration by 19 without changing method or hardware. In espresso, raising the dose from 6.5 g to 8.5 g took the cup from 72 to 88 mg.
It doesn’t, or far less than people think: roast level. The belief that dark roast has more caffeine, or less, circulates in both directions and neither holds up well. Measuring light against dark roast from the same Colombian lot, the difference was 2.6 %; in a Nicaraguan lot it flipped sign at 0.4 %. That’s noise, not an effect. Where a real difference does show up is in the finished cold brew, where medium roast yielded 295 mg against 238 mg for dark on the same recipe.
It depends: water temperature. Across the range a barista actually works in (75-85 °C at the cup) no significant difference was found. But pushing equipment from 90 to 110 °C took the same arabica espresso from 65 to 83 mg. A real effect you will never see in your kitchen.
How much caffeine is too much
| Who | Daily limit | Roughly | Set by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthy adults | 400 mg | ≈4 brewed cups | FDA · EFSA · Mayo Clinic |
| Adults, single dose | 200 mg | ≈2 cups at once | EFSA |
| Pregnancy and breastfeeding | 200 mg | ≈2 cups a day | EFSA · ACOG |
| Children and teens (3-18) | 3 mg per kg | ≈90 mg at 30 kg | EFSA |
| Under 2 years | 0 mg | should avoid it | FDA |
With that table in hand: four brewed cups at home (≈380 mg) sit inside a healthy adult’s limit. Two large cold brews from a coffee shop (≈410 mg) go past it. And a single large shop-brewed coffee can approach 400 mg on its own: that 16 oz cup measured across six days ran 259 to 564 mg.
Does decaf coffee have caffeine?
Yes, between 2 and 15 mg in an 8 oz cup of brewed decaf. The low figure is USDA’s (1 mg per 100 g of beverage), the high one is the FDA’s own. It is not zero because decaffeination removes most of the caffeine, not all of it: EU rules allow up to 0.1 % caffeine in roasted decaffeinated coffee.
In coffee shops it runs higher. An analysis of ten decafs bought at different outlets measured 0 to 13.9 mg per 16 oz cup, and decaf espresso shots came in between 3.0 and 15.8 mg each. If you avoid caffeine on medical advice, three or four large decafs across a day are not zero. They add up to roughly 40-50 mg, more than half a regular cup.
Frequently asked questions
How many mg of caffeine are in a cup of coffee?
About 95 mg in an 8 oz (240 ml) brewed cup, which is the USDA reference figure. EFSA uses 90 mg for a 200 ml filter cup. From a coffee shop the real range is much wider. Plan on 70-165 mg, and don’t be surprised by more.
Which has more caffeine, espresso or drip coffee?
Per cup, drip: 95 mg against 63 mg for a single shot. Per millilitre it is the other way round by a wide margin: espresso concentrates about 2.1 mg/ml against 0.4 mg/ml for drip. The confusion comes from mixing the two ways of counting. Drink a straight espresso and you take in less caffeine than from a brewed cup.
Does dark roast have more caffeine?
Not to any meaningful degree. Measuring the same lot roasted light and dark, the difference was 2.6 % in one case and 0.4 % with the sign reversed in another. What does change your cup is how much ground coffee you use.
How much caffeine can I have while pregnant?
Under 200 mg a day. EFSA and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists agree on the figure. That’s about two 8 oz brewed cups. Always check with whoever is managing your pregnancy: this is the published reference figure, not medical advice.
Does cold brew have more caffeine?
Usually yes, but not because it is cold. It’s the recipe. It’s made with far more coffee per litre of water. At an equal dose, cold water extracted 27 % more caffeine than hot in one trial (295 mg against 233 mg at the same ratio). A large shop cold brew runs about 205 mg, and the largest sizes reach 360.
Sources
- FDA, «Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much?»: the 400 mg/day figure and decaf content.
- EFSA, Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine (2015): 400 mg/day, 200 mg per dose, 200 mg in pregnancy, 3 mg/kg for minors.
- Mayo Clinic, «Caffeine content for coffee, tea, soda and more».
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy entries 171890 (brewed), 171891 (espresso), 174130 (instant) and 171889 (decaf).
- Starbucks nutrition pages for Caffè Americano, Caffè Latte, Cappuccino and Cold Brew.
- ACOG, Committee Opinion No. 462 (2010, reaffirmed 2020): caffeine and pregnancy.
- Desbrow et al., Food and Chemical Toxicology: 97 commercial espressos, mean 106 mg, range 25-214 mg.
- Crozier et al., Food & Function (Royal Society of Chemistry): 20 Glasgow espressos by HPLC, median 140 mg, range 51-322 mg.
- McCusker, Fuehrlein, Goldberger, Gold and Cone, Journal of Analytical Toxicology 30(8):611-613 (2006): caffeine content of decaffeinated coffee.
- Fuller and Rao, Scientific Reports 7:17979: cold brew: temperature, roast, grind and steep time.
- Albanese, Di Matteo, Poiana and Spagnamusso, Food Research International 42:727-732 (2009): arabica against robusta under identical conditions.
- Várady et al., Foods 10:1310 (MDPI): light against dark roast in the same lot.
- Severini, Derossi, Ricci, Fiore and Caporizzi, «How Much Caffeine in Coffee Cup?», IntechOpen (2017): collected trials on dose, grind and ratio.
This page collects figures published by official agencies and peer-reviewed studies. It is not medical advice. If you have a condition that requires you to control caffeine intake, talk to your doctor.
Esta página también está disponible en español.
Fundador de Secta Cafetera · LinkedIn ↗