Time and time again I run into the debate over the caffeine content in various beverages.
For some reason a lot of people believe that brewed tea contains more caffeine than brewed coffee. Here’s the reason why – tea, in it’s dry leaf form does have higher levels of caffeine per ounce than ground roasted coffee beans. But since tea is prepared with a higher ratio of water, its caffeine count is much lower.
Think you’re getting a huge jolt from that shot of espresso? Not so. Espresso comes from very dark roasted beans. Since the roasting process reduces the bean’s caffeine content the darker the roast, the lower the caffeine . This holds true for other brews of coffee, meaning that your medium Tim Hortons* “Double Double” has more caffeine than the stronger tasting Starbucks “Tall Bold”.
Below is a list of beverages and their caffeine content. All figures are approximate.
| Double espresso (2oz) | 45-100 mg |
| Brewed coffee (8 oz) | 60-120 mg |
| Instant coffee (8 oz) | 70 mg |
| Decaf coffee (8 oz) | 1-5 mg |
| Tea – black (8 oz) | 45 mg |
| Tea – green (8 oz) | 20 mg |
| Tea – white (8 oz) | 15 mg |
| Coca Cola (12 oz can) | 34 mg |
| Pepsi (12 oz can) | 38 mg |
| Barq’s Root Beer (12 oz can) | 22 mg |
| 7-up (12 oz) | 0 mg |
| Chocolate milk (8 oz) | 4 mg |
| Dark chocolate (1 oz) | 20 mg |
| Milk chocolate (1 oz) | 6 mg |
So, here’s hoping the caffeine controversy has been laid to rest. Or at the very least, the next time someone challenges me when I tell them that espresso is less caffeinated than a Tim Horton’s coffee I can lead them to this article. 
*for my American readers, Tim Horton’s coffee is similar to Dunkin’ Donuts.