"How much caffeine is in a cup of coffee?" sounds like it should have one number. It doesn't, and the reason matters more than the number. Caffeine in a brewed cup depends on the species of bean, the roast, the grind, the ratio of coffee to water, the brew time and, above all, the size of the cup you're actually holding. Two "medium coffees" from two shops can differ by a factor of three. Below is the full chart, the reasons for the spread, and a way to know your number to the milligram.
How much caffeine is in each kind of coffee?
Figures are typical values from the Mayo Clinic and Center for Science in the Public Interest caffeine tables, the FDA, and published chain nutrition data. Ranges are given where the source gives them.
| Drink | Serving | Caffeine (mg) |
|---|---|---|
| Brewed drip coffee | 8 oz | 95 typical (70–140) |
| Brewed coffee, 12 oz "small" | 12 oz | 113–247 (FDA range) |
| Espresso | 1 oz single shot | 63 (Starbucks lists 75) |
| Espresso, double | 2 oz | 125–150 |
| Americano | 12 / 16 / 20 oz | 150 / 225 / 300 (Starbucks) |
| Latte or cappuccino | 12 oz (1 shot) / 16 oz (2 shots) | 75 / 150 (Starbucks) |
| Cold brew | 12 / 16 / 20 oz | 155 / 205 / 310 (Starbucks) |
| French press | 8 oz | ~175 (single lab study; tends to run high) |
| Pour-over | 8 oz | ~165 (same study) |
| Keurig K-Cup | 8 oz | 75–150, ~100 typical |
| Nespresso Original capsule | 1.35 oz | 55–105 (Kazaar ~120) |
| Nespresso Vertuo | varies by cup | 64–257 |
| Instant coffee | 8 oz | 62 typical (42–76 measured) |
| Decaf brewed coffee | 8 oz | 2–15 (FDA); ~7 measured |
| Decaf espresso | 1 oz | 1–16 per shot |
| COFFREE 0% Decaf | 1 stick | 0 (water-processed) |
| COFFREE 25% Gentle | 1 stick | 22.5 |
| COFFREE 50% Half Caff | 1 stick | 45 |
| COFFREE 75% | 1 stick | 67.5 |
| COFFREE 100% Full Caff | 1 stick | 90 |
| COFFREE 150% Extra Strong | 1 stick | 135 |
COFFREE sticks are dosed by weight, so the figure is the same every time; brewed figures are averages and vary cup to cup.
How much caffeine is in a Starbucks, Dunkin' or McDonald's coffee?
This is where "a cup" stops meaning 8 ounces. Chains size by the cup, not by the dose, and the biggest sizes carry a full day's caffeine.
| Chain drink | Size | Caffeine (mg) |
|---|---|---|
| Starbucks Pike Place brewed | Short 8 oz / Tall 12 / Grande 16 / Venti 20 | 155 / 235 / 310 / 410 |
| Starbucks Blonde Roast brewed | Tall / Grande / Venti | 270 / 360 / 475 |
| Starbucks decaf Pike Place | Tall / Grande / Venti | 20 / 25 / 30 |
| Dunkin' hot coffee | Small / Medium 14 oz / Large | 171 / 210 / 291 |
| McDonald's Premium Roast | Small / Large | 177 / 295 (lab-tested; McDonald's publishes no figure) |
| Peet's Major Dickason's | Small / Large | 281 / 468 (lab-tested) |
Consumer Reports lab-tested takeout coffee in 2025 and found a large Starbucks Pike Place (414 mg) or a large Peet's (468 mg) exceeds 400 mg by itself. A 2024 study of 299 drinks across 13 European chains found the same drink could vary three- to seven-fold between cafés; three Americanos could pass 400 mg. The authors' conclusion was blunt: guidance should be given per serving size, not per "cup."
Why does caffeine vary so much from cup to cup?
Caffeine by weight in Arabica beans. Robusta runs 2.2–2.7%, nearly double, which is why cheap blends can hit harder.
Spread in caffeine for the same drink across different cafés in a 2024 study of 299 samples.
How much more coffee is in a 20-oz venti than in the 8-oz "cup" most caffeine tables are built on.
Bean species. Arabica carries about 1.2 to 1.5 percent caffeine by weight; Robusta carries 2.2 to 2.7 percent. A blend with Robusta in it, which is common in commodity instant and some espresso, can nearly double the caffeine of a pure Arabica cup at the same strength.
Roast level. The persistent myth is that dark roast is stronger. Per bean, roasting changes caffeine very little. Per scoop, light roasts actually pack slightly more because the beans are denser; dark roast beans lose mass and expand, so a scoop holds fewer of them. A 2024 study in Scientific Reports found brewed caffeine actually peaked at medium roasts, because very dark roasts extract less overall. The practical answer: roast is a rounding error compared with cup size.
Brew method, ratio and time. Immersion methods like French press and cold brew sit the grounds in water for minutes to hours and extract more. Espresso is concentrated but tiny. Drip sits in the middle. Grind size and the coffee-to-water ratio move the number further, which is why the same bag of beans can produce a 90 mg cup at home and a 200 mg cup at a café.
Serving size. The single biggest factor. The USDA "cup" is 8 ounces. A Starbucks tall is 12, grande 16, venti 20; a Dunkin' medium is 14; the mug on your desk is probably 12 to 16. If you think in cups and drink in mugs, you are undercounting by 50 to 150 percent.
How much caffeine is too much in a day?
The FDA's figure for healthy adults is 400 mg a day, described as an amount "not generally associated with dangerous, negative effects." The Mayo Clinic uses the same number. In practice that is four 8-ounce cups of drip coffee, or a little more than one venti. Signs you have gone past your own limit include a fast or pounding heartbeat, jitteriness, headache, nausea, frequent urination and, most commonly, trouble sleeping that night.
Several groups have lower ceilings. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends under 200 mg a day in pregnancy. A 2025 expert consensus backed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Heart Association and others recommends children and teens aged 5 to 18 avoid caffeinated drinks altogether. The American Heart Association's 2026 scientific statement on caffeine notes that blood-pressure effects are mild for most people but that anyone with uncontrolled hypertension should get individual advice. And people who metabolise caffeine slowly, which is roughly half the population on one common gene variant, feel the same dose longer. (If any of that is you, our guide to stepping caffeine down without changing your routine walks through it.)
How do you know exactly how much caffeine you're drinking?
With brewed coffee you can't, not really. You can estimate from the tables above, but the real figure in your mug moves every morning with the scoop, the water and the cup. The only way to know your caffeine to the milligram is to drink coffee that was dosed by weight before it reached you.
That is the entire idea behind COFFREE. Each stick is a measured dose of the same organic, single-origin Arabica, dried after brewing so the caffeine is fixed: 0, 22.5, 45, 67.5, 90 or 135 mg. A 100% stick is a standard 8-ounce coffee. A 50% stick is half of one. A 150% is a large coffee-shop cup. Two 50% sticks in a day is 90 mg, full stop, with no guessing about what the barista did.
It also makes the daily math trivial. Under the 400 mg ceiling you could have four 100% sticks. Under the pregnancy guideline you could have two 100% sticks, or four 50% sticks spread through the day. Under a self-imposed afternoon cut-off you can take the 25% stick after lunch and know it's 22.5 mg, not "a small coffee."
The six COFFREE levels
All levels are USDA Organic, low-acid, and third-party tested for mold, mycotoxins and microplastics; the decaf is water-processed with no chemical solvents.
Stop guessing your milligrams.
Six exact caffeine levels, one organic Arabica, dissolves in three seconds hot or iced. Take the 60-second quiz and we'll match you to a level.
Find my caffeine level → Shop all levels →Frequently asked questions
How much caffeine is in a cup of coffee?
About 95 mg in a standard 8-ounce cup of brewed coffee, with a typical range of 70 to 140 mg. A 12-ounce takeout coffee is usually 113 to 247 mg, and a 16-ounce grande around 310 mg.
How many mg of caffeine are in a shot of espresso?
About 63 mg for a 1-ounce single shot according to the Mayo Clinic's table; Starbucks lists its shot at 75 mg. A double shot is roughly 125 to 150 mg.
Does dark roast have more caffeine than light roast?
No. Per bean the difference is tiny, and per scoop light roasts have slightly more because the beans are denser. Cup size and brew method matter far more than roast.
Does instant coffee have less caffeine than brewed?
Usually a little less: about 62 mg per 8-ounce cup on average, with lab tests of major brands ranging 42 to 76 mg. Dosed instant like COFFREE is fixed at the level printed on the stick, from 0 to 135 mg.
How much caffeine is in decaf coffee?
Decaf is not caffeine-free. An 8-ounce brewed decaf has roughly 2 to 15 mg, and a 16-ounce decaf from a chain tested at 9 to 14 mg. Water-processed COFFREE 0% Decaf is dosed at 0 mg.
How much caffeine is safe per day?
The FDA and Mayo Clinic cite 400 mg a day for healthy adults, about four 8-ounce cups. Pregnancy guidance is under 200 mg a day, and children and teens are advised to avoid caffeinated drinks.
Sources: Mayo Clinic, "Caffeine content for coffee, tea, soda and more" (updated Feb 2025); Center for Science in the Public Interest, "Caffeine chart" (updated Sep 2026); U.S. FDA, "Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?"; Consumer Reports, "How Much Caffeine Is in Your Coffee?" (2025 lab test); Nutrients 16 (2024), caffeine content of 299 coffee-shop drinks; Scientific Reports (2024), caffeine extraction by roast level; Starbucks and Dunkin' published nutrition data; Nespresso FAQ; ACOG Committee Opinion 462; American Heart Association scientific statement on caffeine and cardiovascular disease (Circulation, 2026). This article is for general information and is not medical advice.