The Complete Guide to Starbucks Caffeine
After years of waiting, Starbucks have finally begun to list caffeine amounts along with their regular nutrition information.
The info is listed on some of the newer leaflets and also buried in the Starbucks site. We have compiled a more complete table, along with info from other independent laboratory tests.
The caffeine database here at Energy Fiend contains a few of the drinks – but this table is far more comprehensive. How does Starbucks compare with Caribou Coffee or Tim Hortons?
| Beverage | Caffeine (mg) | |||
| Short (8 oz) |
Tall (12 oz) |
Grande (16 oz) |
Venti (20-24 oz) |
|
| Brewed Coffee* |
180
|
260
|
330
|
415
|
| Brewed Decaf Coffee** |
15
|
20
|
25
|
30
|
| Caffè Americano |
75
|
150
|
225
|
300
|
| Caffè Latte (also Cinnamon Dolce Latte) |
75
|
75
|
150
|
150
|
| Caffè Mocha (also flavored Mocha’s) |
90
|
95
|
175
|
180
|
| Cappucino |
75
|
75
|
150
|
150
|
| Caramel Macchiato |
75
|
75
|
150
|
150
|
| Chocolate Milk |
-
|
20
|
25
|
40
|
| Espresso |
75 (solo)
|
150 (doppio)
|
- | - |
| Espresso Macchiato (also Espresso con Panna) |
75 (solo)
|
150 (doppio)
|
- | - |
| Frappuccino Blended Coffee (multiple flavors) | - |
85-90
|
110-115
|
155-160
|
| Frappuccino Light Blended Coffee (multiple flavors) | - |
70-75
|
95-100
|
125-140
|
| Hot Chocolate |
15
|
20
|
25
|
30
|
| Tazo Black Tea Latte |
50
|
75
|
100
|
125
|
| Tazo Chai Tea Latte |
50
|
75
|
100
|
120
|
| Tazo Green Tea Latte |
30
|
55
|
80
|
110
|
| Tazo Red Tea Latte |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| White Hot Chocolate |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Iced Caffe Americano |
-
|
150
|
225
|
300
|
| Iced Doubleshot + Energy |
-
|
150 | 225 | 375 |
| Iced Caffe Latte |
-
|
75 | 150 | 225 |
What about straight Tazo Tea?
Starbucks state that it “varies” and provide no guidelines on caffeine amounts. This is strange given they list caffeine amounts for the Tazo Latte’s (tea + milk).
What? Only a single shot?
The caffeine amounts of the espresso based drinks show that a Tall Latte (and Cappucino) has just a single shot of coffee. For a 12 oz cup size – that is one very weak coffee drink. Any conscientious coffee vendor will, by default, serve at least a double-shot in drinks over 8 ounces. Some even provide double-shots (by default) in regular takeaway cups. This is because many takeaway cups tend to have more volume than their china or crockery counterparts.
How accurate is this?
Starbucks make it clear that “Caffeine information is approximate and is based on limited analytical data.” and also that “Values can vary greatly based on the variety of the coffee and the brewing equipment used.”
This is completely true; caffeine amounts in coffee-based drinks can vary wildly.
* A recent laboratory test sampled a series of Starbucks Breakfast Blend brewed coffees. The caffeine dose varied from 299.5mg right up to a massive 564.4mg per 16oz cup! What’s astonishing is that the 6 samples were obtained from the same outlet on 6 consecutive days.
What’s up with all the caffeine in the Decaf?
Decaffeinated isn’t the same thing as caffeine-free.
** Another independent lab test of Starbucks coffee showed the following:
- Decaf Brewed Coffee – 12.0–13.4 mg/16-oz serving (Starbucks have decided to list considerably more caffeine than this – 25mg per 16 oz).
- Decaf Espresso – 3.0–15.8 mg/shot.
Sources
- McCusker R.R.; Goldberger B.A.; Cone E.J., Caffeine Content of Specialty Coffees, Journal of Analytical Toxicology, Vol. 27, October 2003, pp 520-522. (link)
- McCusker R.R.; Goldberger B.A.; Cone E.J., Caffeine Content of Decaffeinated Coffee, Journal of Analytical Toxicology, Vol. 30, October 2006, pp 611-613.
- Starbucks Nutrition calculator.
62 Comments
You’re wrong, Starbucks Barista. An Iced Venti Americano only has 4 shots, not 5. Read the recipe card. I had to show it to my manager to get him to believe me.
I use a Mr Coffee espresso machine I got from target for like 50 bux. I had been drinking Starbucks italian roast and sumatra until I was at the grocery store and introduced to Peets coffee. Starbucks can sit on shelves in warehouses for up to a year while Peets sends people out to rotate the coffee so what you’re brewing is within 90 days of roasting. I life a finely ground French Roast (Although Im not a fan of Starbucks’s French roast) Sometimes I mix it with Illy fine grind medium espresso for dark on the bottom with medium on top. Its cool how it separates. Fine grind sometimes takes a while to brew because it kinda clogs the machine in the process (as long as its not too fine) but it comes through about 4 shots worth in 10 minutes and is PHENOMINAL and packs plenty of punch. I highly recommend it. Its paid for itself over and over especially when I buy bottles of Starbucks flavoring instead of paying 4-5 bux for an 8 shot Pep latte that tastes watered down. Peets, Illy, Pilon, and some cheaper Brazilian fine grinds where 4 tbsp would normally be mixed with 1 Litre of water work well for strong Espresso although the S. American varieties are a little bitter. Now I get by on 2 cups/day instead of like 6
awesome list
thanks!!
[...] Month, after all. And we’ve posted guides to caffeine before. Of note, we told you about our friends at Energy Fiend and their guide to Starbucks caffeine levels and about how to optimize your [...]
The tea lattes – Green, Chai, Black (well, the old bltl) and the Red – were all made with premade concentrates or powders, so they were all an exact science, so to speak. The actual tea bags are just that and do vary. The same goes for the new tea lattes (the new black, vanilla rooibus, and london fog).
As for shots, the Starbucks Standard is one shot per 8 ounces of milk, rounded DOWN. So,
Short = 8 ounces = 1 shot
Tall = 12 ounces = 1 shot
Grande = 16 ounces = 2 shots
Venti = 20 ounces = 2 shots
Iced Venti = 24 ounces = 3 shots
The difference in price between a grande and a venti is there to accomodate the extra ounces of milk. Also the additional shot, if you get an iced venti, because the price isn’t any different for a venti versus its iced counterpart. If you truly feel like you’re getting screwed fifty cents, go iced. It’ll make your baristas happier and you’ll have all the caffeine you could want.
The exception is the Americano, which goes s-1, t-2, g-3, v-4, iv-4.
The only bad thing about the starbucks list is that it is a brewed coffee. The method that is used to make their coffee has a huge difference in caffeine from cup to cup, so while your sitting there drinking your venti coffee you could only be getting 370mg of caffeine, or on the other hand, you could be getting 450mg of caffeine. All im saying is those numbers are only an average
yeah Cam, That’s true and I wonder if during these tough economic times, some store managers have been cutting back how much ground coffee they are using in order to save money……
180mg in 8 ounces! This is why i just drink Dunkin Donuts which also tastes better.
Interesting.
Can you determine the caffination of a drink based on taste? I always thought of caffeine as the particularly bitter part. I may find some of the pure stuff and dab it on my tongue for future reference… could come in handy with coffee if it varies this much
hee hee I work at Tim Hortons. Starbucks is good though, expensive but good. Does anyone know what Tim Hortons is? hahaha
Hey Lawl , we’ve heard of it and we have a guide…..
http://www.energyfiend.com/2008/07/tim-hortons-coffee-caffeine-content
starbucks should come down under 
Hope- They were down under until the recession, but they’ve closed most if not all their Oz stores because they couldn’t compete in Aussie coffee culture.
[...] equated to three cups of coffee. Yet Starbucks says its standard-size “tall” coffee contains 260mg, over 85% of the recommended limit. Peet’s caffeine content is much higher still, judging [...]
i drink tea instead of coffee, i have no problem with
starbucks but with the ppl that make my tea. this is how i like it: venti no water syrup and EXTRA ICE. its amazing how many ppl can fk that up.
im going to start refusing them if they cant make
it tbe way i like it.
[...] A single Starbucks espresso contains 75mg and a 12oz brewed coffee contains 260mg, according to Energy Fiend, while a Diet Coke contains 47mg, according to the Mayo [...]
Why hasn’t anyone listed the caffeine in their ICED coffee?? It’s an entirely different brew. I remember when I was a barista back in the day, my manager told me there is twice the caffeine in the iced coffee as in the regular brewed coffee, but I’ve never been able to verify that. I’d really like to see the figures!
Everyone’s threshold for caffeine tolerance is different. The biggest thing that people don’t realize is the more you drink it, the less positive effect you get from it (i.e. the alertness) while still suffering the negative effects, such as disruption of sleep.
even those who say they can fall asleep right after drinking a mountain dew are not getting the quality of sleep they need. Sleep comes in different stages: 1,2,3,4, and REM. Stages 3 and 4 are deep sleep, the refreshing sleep in the first four or five hours of the night. As the night wanes, your sleep becomes more stages 1 and 2, lighter, and then voila you wake up.
Caffeine disrupts stages 3 and 4, so even if people sleep through the night, they’re not getting this restful sleep. Also, as the night wanes, they’re more likely to wake up earlier b/c of the sleep disruption.
I completely quit caffeine about 3 weeks ago, and I sleep LESS than before but feel MORE rested. Go figure that out. We fall into a trap that if we’re tired, we need more caffeine….without realizing that it’s the caffeine that’s making us tired, both on the ‘crash’ you get and the disruption of sleep quality.
Having said that, i still love my Starbucks now and then….just decaf. And, I hold the caf in reserve for when I really need it.
Is this data accurate for all countries?
Love espresso duo shot. 
Keep in mind, too, that Iced Venti (24 oz, rather than 20 oz) sized drinks have an additional shot (in other words, they are a ‘triple’), and an Iced Americano has five shots!
Just something to remember if you are trying to count the caffeine and you enjoy the occasional iced drink. (I suppose that extra shot would add another 75 mg?)
Additionally, the varying levels of caffiene probably have something to do with the fact that Starbucks serves many different blends of coffee. The Pikes Place is the same everyday – but it sounds like that laboratory test may have been using the bold blends, which are not necessarily the same from day to day!