A single 1 oz shot of espresso has about 63 mg of caffeine, based on USDA data, and a double shot has about 126 mg. That's less than an 8 oz mug of brewed coffee (about 95 mg), even though espresso is roughly five times stronger per ounce. Real shots vary a lot, though, so treat 63 mg as an average, not a guarantee.
To see how long your shots will stay in you, plug them into the caffeine calculator. For espresso next to every other drink, see the caffeine in drinks chart.
Free toolCaffeine Cutoff CalculatorHow much caffeine is still in you at bedtime, and your latest cup.How much caffeine is in a shot of espresso?
USDA FoodData Central lists restaurant-prepared espresso at 212 mg of caffeine per 100 grams, which works out to about 63 mg in a 1 fl oz (29.6 g) shot. That's the figure most nutrition labels and calculators use.
The real range is much wider. When researchers in Glasgow tested 104 espressos bought from coffee shops in Scotland, Italy and Spain, caffeine ranged from 48 to 317 mg per serving. Serving size varied too, which was part of the problem: one shop's "espresso" isn't the same drink as the next one's.
What moves the number:
- How much ground coffee goes in the basket. More coffee, more caffeine.
- The beans and the blend. Bean batches differ, and so do the blends shops use.
- Shot size. A longer pour in a bigger cup can mean more coffee and more caffeine.
If you buy espresso drinks from a shop that lists caffeine, use its number. Otherwise, 63 mg per shot is a reasonable middle estimate.
Why espresso is stronger but a shot has less caffeine than coffee
Ounce for ounce, espresso has about 5 times the caffeine of brewed coffee, but a shot is only 1 oz, so a regular mug of coffee still wins. Using the USDA figures:
| Espresso | Brewed coffee | |
|---|---|---|
| Caffeine per 1 oz | about 63 mg | about 12 mg |
| Typical serving | 1 oz shot | 8 oz mug |
| Caffeine per serving | about 63 mg | about 95 mg |
Espresso forces hot water through finely ground coffee under pressure, so a little liquid carries a lot of what's in the grounds. Brewed coffee is more diluted, but you drink a lot more of it. A 12 oz coffee comes to about 142 mg and a 16 oz to about 190 mg, which is three shots' worth.
Caffeine in a double shot, triple shot, latte and Americano
Milk and water add no caffeine, so an espresso drink has whatever its shots have: about 63 mg per shot. That makes the math simple.
| Drink | Shots | Caffeine |
|---|---|---|
| Single espresso (solo) | 1 | about 63 mg |
| Double espresso (doppio) | 2 | about 126 mg |
| Triple espresso | 3 | about 189 mg |
| Americano, 1 shot | 1 | about 63 mg |
| Americano, 2 shots | 2 | about 126 mg |
| Latte or cappuccino, 1 shot | 1 | about 63 mg |
| Latte or cappuccino, 2 shots | 2 | about 126 mg |
| For comparison: brewed coffee, 8 oz | about 95 mg |
The catch is that you often don't know how many shots are in a coffee-shop drink. Some shops put two shots in their larger sizes, which gives a big latte more caffeine than a mug of drip coffee. Ask if it matters to you.
How much caffeine is in a double shot of espresso?
About 126 mg, roughly a third of the 400 mg a day generally considered fine for healthy adults. A triple shot is about 189 mg. Two doubles in a morning add up to about 252 mg, before any tea or soda later in the day. If you're tallying a whole day, how much caffeine is too much walks through the 400 mg limit in real drinks.
Latest espresso before bed
For a 10:30 PM bedtime, finish a single shot by about 3:45 PM and a double by about 10:45 AM. These times use the site's caffeine math: an average 5-hour half-life, and the point when the drink drops below about 25 mg by bedtime.
| Bedtime | Single (63 mg) | Double (126 mg) | Triple (189 mg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 PM | 2:15 PM | 9:15 AM | 6:20 AM |
| 10:00 PM | 3:15 PM | 10:15 AM | 7:20 AM |
| 10:30 PM | 3:45 PM | 10:45 AM | 7:50 AM |
| 11:00 PM | 4:15 PM | 11:15 AM | 8:20 AM |
| Midnight | 5:15 PM | 12:15 PM | 9:20 AM |
In hours, that's about 6 hours 40 minutes before bed for a single, 11 hours 40 minutes for a double, and about 14 and a half hours for a triple. The double is the one that catches people out: a lunchtime doppio still leaves about 29 mg in you at 10:30 PM.
How much is left at 10:30 PM depends on when you have it:
| Double shot at | Left at 10:30 PM |
|---|---|
| 8:00 AM | about 17 mg |
| 12:00 PM | about 29 mg |
| 2:00 PM | about 39 mg |
| 4:00 PM | about 51 mg |
| 6:00 PM | about 68 mg |
Everyone clears caffeine at a different speed, so if you're sensitive, treat these times as too late. For an hour-by-hour look at the half-life, read how long caffeine lasts.
Is espresso a good choice in the afternoon?
A single shot is one of the smaller caffeine doses on a coffee menu, so it's a better afternoon pick than a large drip coffee. A 2:00 PM single leaves about 19 mg at 10:30 PM, under the 25 mg target. A 2:00 PM large coffee doesn't come close.
A few easy swaps:
- Order a single instead of a double after lunch.
- Ask for a half-caf or decaf shot in an afternoon latte. Decaf isn't quite zero; see decaf coffee before bed.
- Count the shots, not the cups. Two small lattes with two shots each are four shots.