How much caffeine in espresso? That’s a question that has been going on in my mind recently. And I am sure you’ve asked it, too, at certain points in your life.
Perhaps, you’ve asked the barista in your favorite café or a good old friend who seems not to be fully alive without his single espresso shot.
And why not? Just like the many of us coffee lovers, I have this habit of starting and ending my day with a shot or two of espresso or a cup of drip coffee. I just can’t say no to it!
Coffee is life for me. Life is coffee. It is espresso.
I cannot imagine getting through the day without it. It just feels incomplete without coffee. I am sure you can relate to that. It’s like living the longest day of my life, seriously.
The good thing is that the world never runs out of coffee supply, and that’s one thing for which I will always be grateful.
In my not-so-younger days, I used to drink a large cup of coffee with about eight ounces of drip coffee or roughly 240 ml. It kept going on and on, and the same for every day years back.
I never doubted it helped me get through my stressful day. There is no question about it.
But there is one thing I realized – this serving was a lot more than what my colleague Bryan used to enjoy. Well, that’s a lot like me. I also have this habit of comparing what I have with my colleague/friend.
Back in the day, I used to look into the caffeine amount in my drip coffee and compared it to his espresso.
⇒ The 9 Best Pod Espresso Machines of 2020
⇒ The 6 Best Italian Espresso Machines
⇒ The 8 Best Espresso Beans of 2020
How much caffeine in my drip coffee?
I used to consume 8 ounces of coffee four times a day. And at the end of the day, I felt bloated, with my stomach bigger than it was.
One day while ordering a burger in a fast food chain, I searched Google to answer this question. Based on a certain scientific study, an ounce of drip coffee has between 8-15 milligrams of caffeine.
I wondered why there’s a big fluctuation range. And the answer, the caffeine amount extracted through the drip coffee blending method is reliant on certain factors.
They include the coffee amount, the coffee type, the downtime, the brewing time, the water temperature, the blending time and the roasting degree. Wow! These are a lot than I initially thought. All these things affect the final caffeine produced or extracted.
So concluding, my usual cup contains between 64-120 milligrams of caffeine.
How much caffeine in Bryan’s espresso shot?
Bryan buys his espresso at a café near our office. They sell coffee sold in paper cups, and such is very small.
I wonder why Bryan loves this surprisingly small coffee dose. I always see him sipping it only twice before finally throwing his cup in the trash can.
A cup has one ounce of espresso. At this small size, the caffeine amount is between 30 to 50 milligrams. In that case, my 8-oz drip coffee only has the caffeine amount of a double shot espresso.
What do people think about caffeine in espresso?
One day, I decided to create a poll to find out what my colleagues would choose – the caffeine in a cup of drip coffee or that in a cup of espresso. Based on the majority of the feedback I received – it is espresso.
They told me that caffeine is bitterer in espresso than in drip coffee is. I thought so. It is because espresso is roasted using a more intense process and with finer coffee grounds.
In order to create espresso, high pressure forces the hot water to flow through the coffee container, working more effectively in terms of extracting and capturing the essence of coffee into the cup.
But then, the bitter taste doesn’t come from the caffeine but due to the bitter compounds produced because of the Maillard reaction.
That’s interesting to know about espresso.
What do you think? Summing up, there is about 30 to 50 milligrams of caffeine in every espresso shot. And with that, you and the rest of us can consume between 5 and 10 cups everyday while staying healthy, too.
Hoping I was able to answer the question, how much caffeine in espresso for you and the rest of us that love it. After all, it helps to know something about the things we enjoy, and one of those is drinking coffee.
So now, I start my day with an espresso shot instead of drip coffee. I do believe its good concentration level and bitter taste are what complete my day. How about you? Tell us in the comments.
Did you like this post? Don’t keep it to yourself. Share it with friends who also love coffee on social media today!
