Summer’s here — make a café-grade iced latte at home for under $6 →
Roast SlowA coffee journal · Vol. III
← Back to issue

Free tool

Caffeine calculator

How much caffeine is actually in your coffee — added up by drink and serving, and measured against the daily safe limit.

A shot of espresso has less caffeine than a mug of drip, and cold brew has the most of all — the intensity of a drink rarely matches its caffeine. Pick what you drink and how much, and this calculator totals the milligrams and shows where you land against the 400 mg daily maximum.

Drink
Cup size
Cups today
2cups

Drip · 95 mg each

Caffeine

190

milligrams / day

Of daily max

48%

of 400 mg

0400 mg max
Per serving95 mg
Headroom210 mg left
Pregnancy max200 mg

2 × drip190 mg of caffeine — about 48% of the 400 mg daily maximum for healthy adults.

The everyday benchmark — about 95 mg per 8 oz.

Want the cup, not the jitters?

Modern Swiss Water decaf keeps the flavour and drops 97%+ of the caffeine — the easy way to move the afternoon cups off your total.

Coffee Beans · Kicking Horse

~$15 / 10 oz

Kicking Horse Decaf Whole Bean Coffee

A Swiss Water decaf with real body and chocolate notes — decaf that doesn't taste like a compromise.

Check price on Amazon

Coffee Beans · Volcanica

~$20 / 16 oz

Volcanica Colombian Swiss Water Decaf

A bright, clean single-origin decaf for people who want flavor, not just the absence of caffeine.

Check price on Amazon

Paid links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Caffeine by type of coffee

CoffeeServingCaffeine
Espresso1 shot~63 mg
Drip coffee8 oz~95 mg
Pour-over8 oz~90–120 mg
French press8 oz~80–100 mg
Cold brew8 oz~150–200 mg
Instant8 oz~60 mg
Decaf8 oz~2–5 mg

Read on

Common questions

How much caffeine is in a cup of coffee?

A standard 8 oz (240 ml) cup of drip coffee has about 95 mg of caffeine. A single espresso shot has around 63 mg, pour-over runs slightly higher than drip, and cold brew can reach 150–200 mg per serving. Decaf has only about 2–5 mg. The calculator totals it up across everything you drink in a day.

How much caffeine is too much?

The FDA considers up to 400 mg of caffeine a day safe for most healthy adults — roughly four 8 oz cups of drip coffee. People who are pregnant are usually advised to stay under 200 mg. The calculator shows your total against both limits so you know where you stand.

Does espresso have more caffeine than drip coffee?

Per serving, no. A single espresso shot has about 63 mg of caffeine versus roughly 95 mg in a full 8 oz mug of drip. Espresso has more caffeine per ounce, but you drink far less of it, so a normal mug of drip delivers more caffeine overall.

How can I cut caffeine without giving up coffee?

Switch some cups — especially the afternoon ones — to a good Swiss Water decaf, which keeps 97%+ of the caffeine out while preserving most of the flavor. Drinking smaller servings of full-strength coffee works too. Modern decaf is good enough that an evening cup needn't feel like a downgrade.