A standard 200ml cup of brewed coffee carries about 90mg of caffeine, and an espresso shot about 80mg, but the honest answer is: it depends on how you made it (EUFIC, caffeine levels in foods and drinks). Espresso, filter, cold brew, and decaf all land in different places on that scale. Bean type and brew method move the number more than most people expect.
TL;DR
- A single espresso shot (60ml) runs about 80mg caffeine; a 200ml filter coffee cup runs about 90mg (EUFIC).
- Dark roast does NOT have meaningfully less caffeine by weight, that's a persistent myth we're correcting below.
- Robusta beans carry roughly double Arabica's caffeine (1.2-2.4% vs 0.9-1.5% dry weight).
- EFSA guidance: up to 400mg/day is fine for healthy adults, capped at 200mg for a single dose or during pregnancy (EFSA, 2015).
- Decaf isn't zero caffeine, it's roughly 4mg per 200ml cup (EUFIC).
How Much Caffeine Is in Coffee by Brew Method?
Brew method is a major lever on caffeine content. Contact time between water and grounds, and how much coffee you actually use, matter more than the roast on the label. Here's the typical range by method.
| Brew method | Typical serving | Caffeine (typical) |
|---|---|---|
| Espresso (single shot) | ~60ml | ~80mg |
| Filter / drip coffee | ~200ml | ~90mg |
| Instant coffee | ~200ml | ~90mg |
| Cappuccino / latte (1 shot base) | ~200-350ml | ~80mg (milk adds none) |
| Cold brew (see our cold brew brewing guide) | ~200-250ml | Varies widely by grounds-to-water ratio and steep time, often on the higher end when served undiluted |
| Decaf (any method) | ~200ml | ~4mg |
Sources: espresso, filter, instant, and decaf figures from EUFIC, "Caffeine levels in different foods and drinks" (European Food Information Council, compiled from EFSA consumption data); cold brew variability from Fuller & Rao, Scientific Reports, 2017. We couldn't find a solid EU-body figure for a fixed cold brew mg/serving number, since it depends so heavily on your own ratio and steep time, so we're flagging that one as variable rather than pinning it to a false-precision number.
Notice cappuccino and latte aren't a separate caffeine category. They're espresso with milk on top, so the caffeine total tracks the shot count, not the drink name. A flat white with one shot and a cappuccino with one shot carry the same caffeine, whatever the cup size looks like.
Why Does Caffeine Content Vary So Much Between Cups?
Bean species explains a real chunk of the variance: Robusta beans carry roughly double the caffeine of Arabica, 1.2-2.4% of dry weight versus 0.9-1.5% (Farah, "How Much Caffeine in Coffee Cup?", IntechOpen, peer-reviewed open access). But brew method and dose usually move the needle even further than bean choice alone.
Arabica vs Robusta: The Bean Matters More Than You Think
Robusta isn't just a "cheaper" bean, it's genuinely higher in caffeine, close to double Arabica's dry-weight percentage (1.2-2.4% vs 0.9-1.5%, Farah, IntechOpen). Caffeine works as a natural pesticide for the plant, and Robusta grows at lower, buggier altitudes where it needs more of it to survive.
That's part of why cheap commercial blends built around Robusta can hit harder on caffeine than a specialty single-origin Arabica, even in the same cup size. Camino's single-origin lots are sourced as Arabica for flavor reasons first, the caffeine difference is more of a side effect than the point, but it's a real one worth knowing. Curious what a single-origin Arabica actually tastes like? explore the current lineup.
Does Dark Roast Have Less Caffeine? (The Myth We Need to Kill)
No, dark roast does not meaningfully reduce caffeine by weight, despite being one of the most repeated coffee "facts" out there. Caffeine is a heat-stable compound and only degrades slightly during roasting; the real story is bean density, not chemistry (roast-level comparison).
Here's where the confusion comes from. Longer roasting drives off moisture and expands the bean's cell structure, so dark roast beans are physically bigger and less dense than light roast beans from the same starting weight. Scoop coffee by volume (a tablespoon, a scoop) rather than by weight, and you'll fit fewer dark roast beans into that scoop, so you get slightly less total caffeine per scoop, not because the caffeine disappeared, but because you're using less actual coffee mass.
Weigh your dose on a scale instead of eyeballing a scoop, and the difference between light and dark roast caffeine essentially disappears. This is the "gram for gram" nuance most caffeine myths skip entirely: dark and light roast beans, weighed equally, deliver near-identical caffeine (see our full light vs dark roast breakdown for how roast actually changes flavor instead).
Grind Size, Brew Time, and Dose: The Real Drivers
In our own cupping and dosing tests, grind size and contact time swing caffeine extraction more than roast level ever does. Finer grinds expose more surface area to water, pulling more caffeine out faster, while longer contact time (think French press or cold brew) keeps extracting well past where espresso stops.
Dose matters just as much. A double shot obviously carries more caffeine than a single, and a stronger filter brew ratio (more grounds per liter of water) pushes the same cup higher on the scale, independent of what bean or roast you started with.
How Much Caffeine Can You Safely Drink Per Day?
EFSA's official guidance sets 400mg/day as the safe ceiling for healthy adults, with a 200mg cap on any single dose (EFSA Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine, 2015). That's roughly 4-5 espresso shots, or 2-3 filter coffee cups on the higher end of the range, spread across the day rather than stacked at once.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women get a lower threshold: EFSA caps daily intake at 200mg total, not per dose, reflecting caffeine's slower clearance during pregnancy. For children and adolescents, the guidance scales to body weight at 3mg per kg per day.
EFSA's opinion is explicit that these are population-level thresholds, not universal safe limits. Individual caffeine sensitivity varies a lot based on genetics (specifically CYP1A2 enzyme activity, which controls how fast your liver clears caffeine), so someone can feel jittery well under 400mg while another person sleeps fine after an evening espresso.
Citation capsule
EFSA's 2015 Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine concludes that daily intakes up to 400mg do not raise safety concerns for healthy adults, single doses up to 200mg are fine for acute intake, and pregnant women should stay under 200mg per day total (EFSA Journal, 2015;13(5):4102).
What Does "Decaf" Actually Mean?
Decaf coffee isn't caffeine-free, it typically carries about 4mg per 200ml cup, roughly 95% less than a regular brew (EUFIC). EU law backs this up directly: Directive 1999/4/EC requires that products labelled "decaffeinated" contain no more than 0.3% anhydrous caffeine by weight of the coffee-based dry matter, not 0%.
That residual amount is small enough that most people won't notice a stimulant effect, but it's not literally zero. If you're cutting caffeine for medical reasons rather than just preference, worth knowing decaf still contributes a small amount to your daily total.
Decaffeination itself doesn't touch flavor compounds the way people assume, either. The process targets caffeine specifically (usually via water, CO2, or solvent methods), leaving most of the oils and acids that build actual taste intact. A well-roasted decaf can taste genuinely close to its caffeinated counterpart, it's a processing step, not a flavor downgrade.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much caffeine is in one cup of coffee?
A standard 200ml cup of filter coffee carries about 90mg caffeine, while a single espresso shot (60ml) runs about 80mg (EUFIC). The exact number depends on grind, dose, and brew time, not just the bean.
Does dark roast coffee have less caffeine than light roast?
Gram for gram, no, the difference is negligible since caffeine is heat-stable during roasting. The myth comes from scooping by volume: dark roast beans are less dense, so a scoop holds less coffee mass and slightly less caffeine, not because roasting removed it.
How much caffeine is too much in a day?
EFSA guidance puts the safe ceiling at 400mg/day for healthy adults, with a 200mg limit per single dose (EFSA, 2015). Pregnant women should stay under 200mg total per day, and individual sensitivity varies with genetics.
Does espresso have more caffeine than regular coffee?
Per serving, no, a single shot (~80mg) is roughly in the same range as a full filter coffee cup (~90mg), since the filter cup is a much larger volume. Per millilitre, espresso is far more concentrated, but you're drinking far less of it.
Is decaf coffee completely caffeine-free?
No, decaf typically retains about 4mg caffeine per 200ml cup (EUFIC), since EU Directive 1999/4/EC caps decaffeinated coffee at 0.3% caffeine by dry weight, not 0%. That's small enough for most people to not notice, but not zero.
The Short Version
Caffeine content swings from about 4mg (decaf) to 90mg or more (a filter cup, or a strong cold brew) depending on brew method, dose, and bean species, not the roast level on the bag. Robusta genuinely carries more caffeine than Arabica, but the dark-roast-has-less-caffeine myth doesn't hold up gram for gram. EFSA's 400mg/day guidance gives most healthy adults plenty of room to enjoy a few cups without a second thought.
Curious what your specific brew is actually delivering? Weighing your dose on a scale beats eyeballing a scoop every time, and it's the fastest way to get a consistent, predictable cup. Want to taste the Arabica difference for yourself? explore the single-origin lineup or browse the full collection to find your next bag.
