Which Coffee Has the Most Caffeine?

Are you looking for a coffee that will give you energy? Learn about different types of beans and roasts and find out which coffees have highest levels of caffeine.

Which Coffee Has the Most Caffeine?

Are you looking for a coffee that will give you the most energy? If so, you should know that the type of bean, roast, and brewing method all play a role in determining the caffeine content of your cup. Robusta beans are known for their high caffeine content, while Arabica beans are milder but contain less caffeine. Dark roasts tend to have more caffeine than light roasts, and espresso shots have the most caffeine by volume. Banned Coffee, Biohazard Coffee, and Black Label are some of the most caffeinated coffees on the market.

However, if you have a high tolerance for caffeine or want to avoid jitters, decaffeinated coffee is an option. What you should know is that Black Label has a dose of 1,555 milligrams of caffeine per serving (Robusta beans are scarcer and of a milder quality, but they contain twice as much caffeine as Arabica beans). And if you're a pragmatist who perceives coffee as a caffeine vehicle, you'll be happy to know that most instant coffees use Robusta beans. Their high caffeine content contributes to making grains resistant to pests; therefore, they are cheaper to grow. Looking at the type of bean on a coffee label is the easiest way to tell if you are consuming the most caffeinated coffee. The caffeine content of an average 8 oz drip coffee is around 94.8 mg (1), while the caffeine content of an espresso shot (about 1 ounce) is around 62.8 mg (2).

There will be some unpleasant side effects from the unknown intake of caffeine, so keep reading. Many people believe that a shot of espresso is the coffee they ask for the most caffeine, and they are not mistaken. Espresso has the most caffeine by volume; however, the volume of an espresso is very small. If you drink a single shot of espresso, you're only drinking 75 mg of caffeine, which is a lot considering its 1.5-ounce size. However, espresso is actually the least caffeinated coffee drink you can ask for. If you want to get the most energy out of your cup of coffee, you might be wondering which roasted coffee has the most caffeine.

The caffeine in different coffee roasts varies widely and the answer is not always simple. Arabica is used to make specialty coffee, while Robusta is usually reserved for instant coffee and cheaper alternatives. Instead of advertising its coffee as the “strongest”, Banned Coffee calls it the “strongest and most delicious”, probably due to the higher proportion of arabica beans in this blend. Therefore, we could say that, in general, coffee, prepared with a dark roast, contains more caffeine than coffee, made with a light roast. Many coffee drinkers, both casual and enthusiastic drinkers, believe that the amount of caffeine in their favorite cup depends on the type of roast they prepare.

While some coffee drinkers participate simply because they enjoy it, many people rely on the dose of caffeine in their coffee to endure each day. According to the site, 12 ounces of drip coffee will produce 262 milligrams of caffeine, while other brewing methods can produce up to 408 milligrams. If you have developed a tolerance to caffeine or have a naturally high capacity for caffeine, the above coffees may like you, but even then, you can only have one cup a day and no more. As a result, if you measure the same level teaspoon of dark roast as a light roast, that teaspoon of light roast will give you a cup of coffee with more caffeine than that single teaspoon of dark roast. Biohazard Coffee lives up to the rest of these coffees with 928 mg of coffee per 12 ounces of brewed coffee.

However, now due to this high caffeine coffee trend, Robusta producers are reaping the benefits of the new popularity of the bean.

Black Label

claims that it will give you even energy levels without jitters, which is quite impressive considering that it has the most caffeine of all the coffees on this list. Decaffeinated coffee has been treated before roasting, usually with water, carbon dioxide or solvents, to remove most of its caffeine.

Glenna Matthys
Glenna Matthys

Hardcore internet practitioner. Wannabe beer advocate. Infuriatingly humble beer expert. Devoted coffee evangelist. Hardcore social media scholar. Friendly beer fanatic.