How Much Caffeine In Coffee? Mg-per-Cup Table (UK)

Last Updated on 09/11/2026

A typical cup of coffee contains around 95 mg of caffeine. An 8 fl oz (237 ml) filter coffee delivers about 96 mg, a single espresso around 63 mg, and instant coffee 60–80 mg per mug. Most healthy adults can safely take up to 400 mg of caffeine a day, from every source combined.

Key takeaways

Average cup: 95 mg. A 237 ml filter coffee comes in at 96 mg.
Espresso is the most concentrated, not the biggest dose. 63 mg per 30 ml shot, 210 mg per 100 ml.
Instant: 60–80 mg a mug. Spoon size, not brand, is the biggest lever.
400 mg a day is the EFSA and UK FSA limit for most adults.
Decaf is not caffeine-free. Expect 2–15 mg a cup.

How much caffeine in coffee: the mg-per-cup table

Caffeine content in coffee swings with the drink, the serving and the brew. This table gives typical figures per serving, plus mg per 100 ml so you can compare like with like.

Coffee or drink	Serving size	Caffeine per serving	Caffeine per 100 ml
Instant coffee (1 heaped tsp, 200 ml water)	200 ml / 7 fl oz	65 mg (60–80 mg)	33 mg
Filter coffee	237 ml / 8 fl oz	96 mg (70–140 mg)	40 mg
Espresso (single shot)	30 ml / 1 fl oz	63 mg (58–76 mg)	210 mg
Single-serve pod (espresso-style)	40 ml / 1.4 fl oz	75 mg (55–100 mg)	188 mg
Cold brew (ready to drink)	250 ml / 8.5 fl oz	145 mg (100–200 mg)	58 mg
Decaf coffee	200 ml / 7 fl oz	4 mg (2–15 mg)	2 mg
Black tea	200 ml / 7 fl oz	45 mg (40–55 mg)	22 mg
Green tea	200 ml / 7 fl oz	30 mg (25–38 mg)	15 mg
Energy drink	250 ml / 8.5 fl oz	80 mg	32 mg
Cola	330 ml / 11 fl oz	35 mg	11 mg

Figures are typical values, not guarantees. Brewing method, dose, grind and cup size all move the number, and brands differ. Filter and espresso values follow USDA FoodData Central analytical data; tea, energy drink, cola and decaf follow the EFSA-based EUFIC table. Ranges reflect published variation between samples.

Coffee caffeine mg per 100 ml: the fair comparison

Coffee caffeine mg per 100 ml is the number that tells you true strength, and espresso wins by a distance: around 210 mg per 100 ml, roughly five times filter coffee. Yet a 30 ml shot still lands under a mug of filter. Use mg per 100 ml to judge strength, and mg per serving to count your daily total.

Caffeine in instant coffee: brand by brand

Instant is the UK office default, and it is also the hardest to pin down: the caffeine sits in the granules, so your spoon sets the dose. Nescafé publishes 50–90 mg of caffeine per 2 g serving for its core range (Nescafé UK). A level teaspoon is about 1.8 g, so a mug lands between 45 and 81 mg.

Nescafé Original, Gold Blend and Azera

Nescafé Original Instant Coffee Tin 750 g – about 65 mg per 200 ml mug. Range 45–80 mg.
Nescafé Gold Blend Rich & Smooth 750 g – about 65 mg per mug. Same published range as Original. Milder taste, same caffeine.
Nescafé Azera Americano 500 g – about 70 mg per mug. Finer micronised granules, so a heaped spoon weighs more.

Kenco coffee caffeine content

Kenco coffee caffeine content is not printed on the tin, so work from the dose. At 25–45 mg of caffeine per gram of instant powder, a 1.8 g spoon gives 45–81 mg. Our typical figure: 60 mg per mug from a 750 g tin such as Kenco Instant Coffee Tin 750 g. A generous, heaped spoon pushes Kenco caffeine content past 80 mg; a scant one drops it near 45 mg.

How much caffeine in a cup of Douwe Egberts coffee

How much caffeine in a cup of Douwe Egberts coffee follows the same maths: about 60 mg per 200 ml mug, with a 45–80 mg range. The variable is the spoon, not the blend. Two teaspoons of Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Coffee Tin 750 g – roughly 3.5 g – doubles the figure to around 90 mg.

What moves the number

Six variables explain almost all of the gap between two cups of the same drink.

Bean. Robusta carries roughly twice the caffeine of arabica by weight. Blends with more robusta hit harder.
Roast. Darker beans lose mass in the roaster, so caffeine per gram creeps up, but lighter beans are denser, so a scoop can weigh more.
Dose. The biggest lever in any office kitchen. 2 g of coffee gives half the caffeine of 4 g.
Grind. Finer grounds extract faster. Espresso fine, cafetière coarse, cold brew coarser still.
Brew ratio. Grams of coffee per litre of water. A 60 g/L cafetière brew is double a 30 g/L one.
Water volume. Extra water adds no caffeine. It dilutes the cup: mg per 100 ml falls, mg per serving holds.

Processing and brewing effects on caffeine are well documented (review of processing operations), and controlled work on cold brew shows roast temperature, grind and steeping time all shift extraction (Scientific Reports, 2017). In practice, two cafés can serve the same Americano at wildly different strengths: a 2024 study of 299 coffees found servings from 12.8 mg to 309 mg, with Americanos averaging 143 mg (Wierzejska & Gielecińska, Nutrients).

How many cups can you drink? Working from 400 mg

The European Food Safety Authority concluded in 2015 that 400 mg of caffeine a day and single doses up to 200 mg raise no safety concerns in healthy adults. The UK FSA advises the same 400 mg daily figure from all sources.

Caffeine UK guidance at a glance

4 × 237 ml filter coffees – 96 mg each, 384 mg total
6 mugs of instant – 65 mg each, 390 mg total
6 single espressos – 63 mg each, 378 mg total
5 pod coffees – 75 mg each, 375 mg total
2–3 cold brews – 145 mg each
8 mugs of black tea – 45 mg each, 360 mg total
5 energy drinks – 80 mg each, exactly 400 mg
Around 100 decafs – 4 mg each

Then count what you don’t think of as coffee: cola, chocolate, pre-workout and supplements. Caffeine in coffee and espresso is only part of the total, and the takeaway cup is the usual culprit. Four to five large shop-bought coffees can exceed 400 mg on their own.

Pregnancy changes the maths: the NHS advises no more than 200 mg a day – about two filter coffees or three and a half mugs of tea. Sleep is the other limit. EFSA notes that 100 mg close to bedtime can affect sleep in some adults, so a 4pm instant may cost more than it gives.

UK labelling helps here: drinks with more than 150 mg of caffeine per litre must carry a high-caffeine warning and show the caffeine content per 100 ml. Tea and coffee are exempt, which is exactly why the table above matters.

Decaf myths: four to drop

Myth: decaf has no caffeine. Reality: 2–15 mg per 8 fl oz cup, and about 4 mg per 200 ml mug.
Myth: one decaf before bed is risk-free. Reality: at 4 mg it is negligible for most people, but a double decaf espresso can reach 15 mg – and caffeine sensitivity varies.
Myth: decaf has more caffeine than green tea. Reality: 4 mg against 30 mg per 200 ml. Not close.
Myth: decaf is a different drink. Reality: same beans, same roast, same grind. Caffeine is stripped from the green bean before roasting.

How we compiled these figures

We did not lab-test products, and we don’t pretend otherwise. Every figure here was built from published data and arithmetic you can repeat.

Analytical values: USDA FoodData Central records for brewed coffee (40 mg/100 g) and espresso (212 mg/100 g).
Safety thresholds: EFSA’s 2015 opinion on caffeine safety, the UK FSA’s 400 mg advice, and NHS pregnancy guidance.
Manufacturer data: Nescafé’s published 50–90 mg per 2 g range, plus brand serving guidance.
Peer-reviewed studies: Wierzejska & Gielecińska 2024 (299 samples), McCusker et al. 2003 (speciality coffee variance), and cold brew extraction research.
Conversion: mg per serving converted to mg per 100 ml at the stated serving size, then rounded to the nearest whole milligram. Ranges are shown wherever sources disagreed by more than 15%.

Brand-level figures for Kenco and Douwe Egberts are typical values calculated from dose and standard instant-coffee concentration, because neither brand publishes caffeine per mug on pack. Check the label where a figure is given; expect batch and brew variation everywhere.