How much caffeine in a shot of espresso?
One of the few things that’s associated very much with coffee alongside flavor and roasts is…..caffeine! So how much of it is really present in a shot of espresso? Well, as espresso is a super concentrated coffee drink, it has the highest caffeine per ounce when compared to coffee made by any other method! A single shot of espresso is typically around 1 ounce of fluid coffee, containing roughly 65 mg of caffeine. In other words, espresso just like it being intensely concentrated in flavor, is also intensely caffeinated.
To determine the caffeine in a double shot of espresso, just multiply the content of a single shot by 2. So that’s 65*2 = 130 mg of caffeine in a double shot.
Caffeine in espresso vs regular brewed coffee –
Regular brewed coffee (made with a French press, Moka pot, Aeropress, Pour over, etc) has approx 12 mg of caffeine per ounce. But who’s gonna drink just an ounce of it? Minimum you’ll be drinking a cup of coffee, and a standard cup contains 8 ounces of fluid coffee, so that becomes 12*8 = 96 mg of caffeine in 1 cup of regular brewed coffee. That way if you compare a shot of espresso vs a cup of filter coffee, the latter will have more caffeine. But ounce for ounce, there ain’t any coffee drink which even comes close to that of espresso. So, it all comes down to how much and in which style is the coffee being consumed.
Caffeine in espresso based milk drinks, as well as a comparison with 2 popular energy drinks –
When espresso is used as a base to build a standard cappuccino, latte, flat white, macchiato and affogato, then caffeine content in each of them will be around 65 mg, as each is built using a single shot of espresso. For mocha and cortado which are mostly made up of a double shot of espresso, the content in each of them is double, i.e around 130 mg. Similarly in a latte or a flat white etc, if a larger sized drink is ordered, then a double shot of espresso will be used, leading to caffeine content being approx 130 mg. By now, caffeine in espresso, regular brewed coffee, and in espresso based milk drinks is clearly explained in this post.
If you’re going the comparison route further and if you wish to know how much caffeine is in a Monster? Or how much caffeine in red Bull?…..Then here’s the answer. Monster has 160 mg caffeine per can (which has 16 fluid ounces) which comes out to be 10 mg per fluid ounce. Red Bull contains around 80 mg caffeine per can (which has 8.4 fluid ounces) which comes out to be 9.5 mg per fluid ounce. So ounce for ounce, regular brewed coffee (12 mg per ounce) has a slightly higher caffeine content than these 2 energy drinks. Regarding caffeine in espresso per fluid ounce, that’s way higher (at 65 mg) than all these energy drinks and regular brewed coffee.
But espresso is consumed a few shots per day, whereas these drinks may be consumed in a larger quantity. Therefore keep an eye at the total consumption per day rather than just per fluid ounce, so that you don’t go overboard. There are other tea drinks like green tea, matcha and energy drinks like celcius, coke etc which are caffeinated. Now, compared to all of these drinks, espresso has the highest content per ounce. But, as we’ve mentioned before, consider caffeine per serving or per can or per cup as well, not just per ounce, as other drinks don’t have an ultra concentrated flavor like espresso and they are drunk in larger quantities.
How much caffeine is too much?
Let’s talk about the daily limit now, as to how much caffeine you should have in a day. As per dietary guidelines, the limit is at 400mg/day. So, that comes out to be around 6 single shots of espresso. If you’re someone who drinks a cappuccino instead, then even that uses a single espresso shot as a base. Thereby a standard cup of cappuccino will have the same caffeine (i.e around 65 mg) as that of an espresso. So the limit for this is that you can drink 6 cups of cappuccinos per day.
But wouldn’t so many cappuccinos be a bit too much? For us, it’s too much for a day. Because we also drink milkshakes, teas and other juices. The caffeine story of a latte, macchiato, flat white, etc is similar to that of a cappuccino. All of these drinks when built upon a single espresso shot, deliver 65 mg of caffeine per cup. If these drinks are consumed in a normal way (like around 2-3 cups of milky coffee per day, or an espresso shot in the morning, then one or 2 milky coffee drinks during the noon and evening) then there’s nothing to be concerned about the daily limit. The issue arises when someone is overdoing something and consuming extraordinary amounts of these coffee drinks daily.
If espresso based milk drinks incorporate a double shot of espresso, then naturally caffeine content doubles. Examples are mocha and cortado which are built upon a double shot of espresso. So each cup will have around 130 mg of caffeine. If you’re drinking 3 cups then you’re clocking 390 mg which is just 10 mg short of the 400 mg daily limit.
What increases or decreases caffeine in an espresso as well as in regular brewed coffee?
There are many factors on which caffeine content is dependent. One being that the espresso you’re drinking comes from which variety of coffee? Whether it’s Arabica or Robusta. Or Liberica or Exelsa (These 2 varieties Liberica and Exelsa are not so popular and supply is also quite low. Most of your coffee drinking friends wouldn’t probably know about them). Another factor regarding caffeine is whether it’s grown at a high elevation or at a low elevation. Are plants being given a balanced and adequate nutrition? The temperature of water during brewing, time taken for brewing a shot, grind size of coffee, etc etc. This is just scratching the surface. If we go really deep into this, it’s a massive topic by itself. We’ll hopefully create a separate blog and discuss in detail regarding the science and mystery of caffeine, not just in coffee but also in other energy drinks, teas etc.
But here, focus is more on caffeine content in an espresso. So, let’s just stay here. If we’re speaking in general, considering the norms not the exceptions… then arabica has around 1.2 – 1.5% of caffeine and robusta has 2.2 – 2.7%. One more thing, there are robustas that have much lower caffeine going down to 1.7%, and few arabicas also go down to 0.8%, but those are the lower limits.
Effect of light and dark roasted beans on caffeine –
Let there be no doubt that there may be differences in caffeine between light and dark roasted beans sometimes, based on the method of measuring coffee beans…..However, that’s minimal!
If you want to dig this topic further, then let’s explore. Just consider we’ve taken 2 coffee samples, which are coming from the same region and processed similarly. When these beans undergo roasting, there are quite a few caffeine stories brewing up there.
One such story that makes rounds in coffee circles is that dark roasts have more caffeine when compared to light and medium roasts, as the beans are roasted for a longer time, thereby becoming stronger and bitter in flavor, along with an increase in caffeine. Let’s inform you clearly that this reason for increased caffeine is a misconception, a big one…and we’ll explain in the next paragraph as to what’s the cause for this confusion. On the other side, there are others who hold a totally opposing view stating that light roasts have more caffeine, believing that roasting it for longer periods reduces caffeine in the beans. Even this is not correct.
Now, let’s know what exactly happens. Consider it to be a bean to bean match, a light roasted bean vs a dark roasted bean, and when both of their caffeine content is checked, the result shows that both of them have the same amount of caffeine. Don’t be surprised. That’s it! And remember, this is the case when ‘equal number of beans’ of both roasts are taken and analyzed. Therefore, roasting coffee doesn’t change the caffeine content at all!
The thought that one roast has higher caffeine than the other is due to an illusion. An illusion that leads to confusion, and it arises from 2 cases. Let’s look at both of them, one at a time.
Before that, let’s just standardize a few things. Consider 2 coffee bean samples, one is a light roast and the other one is a dark roast. Both coming from the same variety of coffee plants and having the same processing etc. Initially unroasted coffee beans have a moisture of around 11-12%. As it’s lightly roasted, the moisture reduces a bit, thereby also decreasing in weight by a little. And the beans become slightly swollen (compare it to what happens to almonds when roasted). Another sample which is dark roasted, loses more moisture and thereby it decreases more in its weight (ex : almonds when dark roasted). These beans are more swollen and larger in size. Now when both these samples need to be taken to brew coffee, it all depends on the method in which you’re measuring and taking them further for grinding.
Let’s start with the first case, that is when measured by weight :
If taken by weight (20g of coffee) then less number of light roasted beans will be present than the dark roasted beans as dark roasted beans weigh less due to lower moisture in them, and are swollen to a larger size. Thereby more number of dark roasted beans are required to make a 20 gm sample. More the number of beans, more the overall caffeine content. So here, a sample of dark roasted beans has more caffeine.
Moving on to the second case, which is when measured by scoops (i.e by volume) :
If 2 coffee samples are measured by scoops, then more number of lightly roasted beans will be present than dark roasted ones. It’s simply due to the fact that light roasted beans are smaller in size (less swollen) and greater in weight, due to a higher moisture content. Thereby more number of beans will be present in a scoop (irrespective of the weight). We know that greater the number of beans present, greater is the overall caffeine content. Thereby a light roasted beans sample has more caffeine.
One final note on measurements and roasts topic is that, when coffee is measured by weight it is more accurate, and is the way of measuring that we recommend. This way, a dark roasted espresso will be more caffeinated than a (light roasted) blonde espresso. Anyways, even if there’s a difference in caffeine content between light and dark roasts due to measuring methods, it’s minimal.
Caffeine in decaf espresso –
If decaf beans are used to make a shot or double shot of espresso, then caffeine content comes down to a really really low level. That’s around 2-3%. So even if you’re taking 5-6 espresso shots per day, caffeine in it would be less than 10 mg!