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How Much Caffeine In A Shot Of Espresso?

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Caffeine is the most consumed drug by people and coffee is a major source for this, health experts advise people to avoid this because of some ill effects. Even decaffeinated brew can cause such discomfort feeling. If you drink for five to ten cups, the dose of caffeine can reach to the level present in a cup or two caffeinated coffee. But how much caffeine in a shot of espresso?

Well, it depends on your perspective. During late 50’s a typical coffee serving size was between 4 to 6 fl oz (118-177mL) but as time goes by, the cup size multiply to almost eight times. A typical drip of coffee (8oz) contains approximately 65-120mg of caffeine. Its caffeine content varies on the volume per serving, so there is a wide variation in caffeine content that’s why it is very difficult to assess how much caffeine it is in a shot of espresso.

However, typically a shot of espresso is made form 7 grams of finely ground coffee extracted with 1.5 fluid ounces (44ml) over about 25 seconds. Espresso drinks contained 3 milligrams to 15.8 milligrams of caffeine per shot while brewed coffees had caffeine concentration ranging from 12 milligrams to 13.4 milligrams per 16-ounce serving. It is usually topped with a golden creamy color or crema. It varies in every coffee shop, it is either in coffee blends, machines or filter basket sizes.

So How Much Caffeine In A Shot Of Espresso?

Normally, there is 100mg of caffeine in a 212mg cup of espresso. When compared with a regular shot of coffee, a 12 oz shot is about 120mg of caffeine whereas in a 2oz shot of espresso you can only get 80mg of caffeine. In short, there is 10mg of caffeine in 1 oz of coffee and there is about 40mg of caffeine in 1 oz of espresso. With this, espresso has 4 times more caffeine than coffee.

When you set aside the technicalities, there are several factors to be considered when brewing coffee. This includes the coffee type, grind size, brewing time, dwelling time, water temperature, roast level and blend. A drip of coffee with approximately 92.5mg contains a larger concentration of caffeine than an espresso (400mg). So in this case, a drip of coffee has more caffeine content than espresso. A 1 ounce of espresso solution is about 30-50mg of caffeine in solution.

Espresso is prepared using pressurized water, more ground coffee resulting to higher caffeine concentration. From a beverage perspective, because espresso is serve in smaller size, it has less caffeine content. However from a volume content, espresso has more caffeine than drip of coffee due to its higher concentration of soluble in a 10z of coffee.

People mostly believed that espresso has more caffeine content than drip coffee maybe because of its intense bitter compound. It is roasted at darker roast creating a higher concentration of “bitter molecules” but this is a myth. Believe it or not, the bitter compounds from darker roast are not due to caffeine but these bitter compounds are created during Maillard reaction. It has lower caffeine concentration that allows Italians to drink upwards of 5-10 espresso’s per day without getting jittery. But what does it take to extract caffeine from coffee?

Caffeine is extracted into the brew by hot water acting as a solvent. And this method, the brewing method don’t yield the same percentage of caffeine. There is a need the grinds to be 100% saturated to extract all the available caffeine. On the other hand, the ideal water temperature is near-boiling, 95-105 degrees Celsius. Temperature can make a big difference in how quickly caffeine is extracted from the bean. A cold brew takes hours longer. When all the available caffeine is extracted, when the grinds are finer, you can extract the caffeine faster. Water reaches the surface area and saturates the grind with ease, due to greater contact area. If the grind is too fine you will over-extracted it but if it is too coarse you will under-extract it.

How much caffeine is too much?

According to experts, a 400mg of caffeine in a day is the standard one. It is around 4 cups of coffee or 2 cans of energy drink and 10 cans of soft drinks like coke. If you are consuming much of these amounts you should get warned as it can harm your health.

When it comes to espresso, everyone’s favorite caffeine-rich drink, the dosage shouldn’t exceed 5 cups a day. If you can’t resist yourself from drinking it more than 5 cups a day then keep remembering the above mentioned caffeine content of espresso so will be reminded of your limits. It is important to be always reminded of these figures since espresso is very delicious and hard to resist. Caffeine-rich drink is also important but also we have to keep ourselves healthy.

Espresso Expert Member since November 3, 2018

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