How Much Caffeine Is In Coffee, Espresso, And Other Drinks? [Infographic]

A recent NEJM study of over 400,000 coffee drinkers found that coffee consumption — upwards of 6 cups/day — can decrease the risk of death by up to 16%. Considering that the average american drinks 3.1 cups of coffee per day, that’s fantastic news.

I’ve already explained in-depth what caffeine is and how it affects the body, but exactly how much caffeine is in a cup of coffee, espresso, Red Bull, or diet coke?

Turns out it varies highly by size and coffee brand.

Sip on this — a tall 12 oz. Starbucks coffee has over 250 mg of caffeine; a BIGGER 16 oz. cup from McDonald’s or Dunkin’ Donuts has nearly 100 mg of caffeine less. That’s a striking disparity based on size alone, but then again maybe not — Starbucks is overly strong, McDonald’s/DD are the definition of watered down.

Also, most people assume that one cup of brewed coffee is the equivalent of an espresso shot. Nope.

One standard 8 oz. cup of brewed coffee has ~120 mg of caffeine; standard espresso has only 75 mg. Interesting stuff. These stats and more, below, from one of visual.ly’s many awesome infographics.

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