Most of us go through life with only a vague idea of how much caffeine is in what we eat and drink. That coffee should wake us up; this soda is probably caffeine-free. But if you want to use caffeine effectively, you really need to know the amount in your favorite sources. You can’t properly time your caffeine consumption to maximize alertness if you don’t know exactly how much you’re consuming.
Knowing the dose in each cup is also important if you’re regulating your caffeine intake for medical reasons—if you’re pregnant, for example, and you’ve been advised to keep it under a certain level. Research suggests a level of 300 milligrams per day, but my midwife tried to explain it to me in terms of “eight-ounce coffees.” This is an unreliable way to measure caffeine. We can do better.
Know Your Coffee
The trouble with thinking of caffeine as a yes/no question is that caffeine content varies more than you think. A weak cup of diner coffee might have 65 milligrams; a grande brewed coffee at Starbucks has 310.
The difference depends mainly on how it was brewed and what kinds of beans were used. Darker coffees may taste “stronger” because they have more flavor from roasting, but they are not more caffeinated.
If you’re buying your coffee from a chain restaurant or café, you should be able to look up its caffeine content on the establishment’s website. If not, refer to a chart like the one at Caffeine Informer for approximate caffeine levels. Here are some examples:
7 Eleven, 16 ounce coffee: 280 mg
Dunkin, 14 ounce coffee: 210 mg
McDonalds, 16 ounce coffee: 145 mg
Starbucks, 16 ounces (“grande”): 310 mg
Stumptown cold brew, 10.5 ounces: 279 mg
Folgers, 8 ounces: 115 mg
Dunkin latte, 14 ounces: 151 mg
Bottled Starbucks frappucino, 13.7 ounces: 130 mg
Average espresso, 1.5 ounces: 77 mg
Sodas
Mountain Dew is exxxtremely caffeinated (for a soda), as you may have guessed, and other sodas are either less so, or not at all. As a rule of thumb, anything clear tends to be caffeine-free and so are some, but not all, root beers. Here’s a selection, specific to the US market, per 12-ounce can:
Pepsi: 38 mg (Diet Pepsi: 34)
Coca-cola: 34 mg (Coke Zero Sugar is the same, but Diet Coke is 46)
Mountain Dew: 54 mg (Diet Mountain Dew is the same)
Dr. Pepper: 41 mg (Diet Dr. Pepper is the same)
Sprite, Slice, 7-Up, Orange Crush: zilch
Root beer: A&W, IBC, Mug, Hires, and Stewart’s are all caffeine-free.
Barq’s root beer: 22 mg (but Diet Barq’s has none)
Energy Drinks
Energy drinks advertise herbs and amino acids, but the “energy” comes from caffeine. Some of the companies are up front about it; others don’t mention it, or keep it in the fine print. Here’s the caffeine content of a few popular brands:
5-hour energy: 215 mg in that tiny bottle according to Consumer Reports testing
Red Bull: 80 mg per 8.4-ounce can
Monster energy drink, original flavor: 160 mg per 16-ounce can (other flavors 140 to 187)
Rockstar energy drink, original flavor: 160 mg per 16-ounce can according to Caffeine Informer (Other flavors may be more; Punched and Pure Zero are 240 mg per can according to Caffeine Informer)
Chocolate and hidden sources
Unlike with coffee, color tells you something about caffeine content with chocolate. Dark chocolate has more caffeine than milk chocolate. A few chocolate chips in a cookie won’t keep you awake, but a whole bar of dark chocolate will give you a little kick:
Dark chocolate: 43 mg per 100 grams (but high cocoa bars could have twice as much)
Milk chocolate: 20 mg per 100 grams
White chocolate: nada
Cocoa powder: 8 to 20 grams per tablespoon according to ConsumerLab
Aside from chocolate, and potentially some coffee-containing desserts, there aren’t many ordinary foods with hidden caffeine. But if you’re consuming sports drinks or gels, you may be getting extra caffeine in significant amounts without realizing it.
Because caffeine can help athletic performance, some supplements and sports foods include it. An extra boost, great! But not so great if you’re working out late at night, or if you’re sucking down gel after gel on a long run and you don’t realize some flavors are caffeinated and some aren’t. At least these tend to be labeled, so be sure to read the fine print.