Caffeine is a drug found in coffee and tea. It’s one of the most commonly consumed psychoactive drugs.
The amount of caffeine in coffee depends on many factors, including the type of beans, the brewing method, and how it is prepared. On average, an 8-ounce cup of coffee contains about 100 milligrams (mg) or 200 mg of caffeine.
The list below is, therefore, only a rough guideline to give you an idea about how much coffee is in different types of brews.
- Regular drip or brewed coffee (8 oz / 237 mL): 95-200 mg of caffeine
- Decaffeinated drip or brewed coffee (8 oz / 237 mL): 2-12 mg of caffeine
- Espresso (1 oz / 30 mL): 47-75 mg of caffeine
- Decaffeinated Espresso (1 oz / 30 mL): 0-15 mg of caffeine
- Instant coffee (8 oz / 237 mL): 27-173 mg of caffeine
- Decaffeinated instant coffee (8 oz / 237 mL): 27-173 mg of caffeine
- Latte (8 oz / 237 mL): 63-175 mg of caffeine
How much caffeine is in coffee beans?
This is a tricky one to answer because lots of little factors play their part. Let’s keep things simple and start with a single arabica coffee bean. On average, this little fella contains 1.9 milligrams of caffeine. Robusta coffee (the bitter stuff) contains quite a bit more; one robusta bean has approximately 2.9 milligrams of caffeine.
As said, the amount of caffeine in coffee depends on the characteristics of the coffee bean and the brew method. But slight variations can even lead to a difference in the amount of caffeine between one cup and the other. This is caused by:
Changes in the coffee bean:
Not every single bean has the exact same amount of caffeine. Even when the beans are of the same variety. When you are using a blend of different coffee beans, variations in the mixture also lead to variations in the amount of caffeine in your cup.
The amount of ground coffee used:
When you use a coffee scoop to measure the amount of coffee you use for a particular brew method, there are variations in the amount of coffee you use between one brew session and the next. If consistency is your goal, you should use a kitchen scale to weigh out the amount of coffee for each brew session. In my opinion, consistency should be your goal. You want to brew a great cup of coffee each time, right?
Check our post about How Much Ground Coffee Per Cup
