How much caffeine is in a pumpkin spice latte? A grande (16 oz) Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte has about 150 mg of caffeine, and a short or tall has about 75 mg, according to Starbucks. A hot venti also has about 150 mg, while an iced venti has about 225 mg.
The caffeine comes from the espresso, not the pumpkin sauce. That's why a grande and a hot venti carry the same amount: the extra size is mostly milk. To see what your PSL leaves in you at bedtime, plug it into the caffeine calculator.
Free toolCaffeine Cutoff CalculatorHow much caffeine is still in you at bedtime, and your latest cup.How much caffeine is in each size of Pumpkin Spice Latte?
Starbucks lists about 75 mg for a short or tall PSL, 150 mg for a grande or hot venti, and 225 mg for an iced venti. These figures come from Starbucks' US menu and nutrition pages, checked in October 2026. Starbucks marks its caffeine numbers as approximate.
| Size | Volume | Caffeine (Starbucks' figure) |
|---|---|---|
| Short | 8 fl oz | about 75 mg |
| Tall | 12 fl oz | about 75 mg |
| Grande | 16 fl oz | about 150 mg |
| Venti (hot) | 20 fl oz | about 150 mg |
| Iced Tall | about 75 mg | |
| Iced Grande | about 150 mg | |
| Iced Venti | about 225 mg |
Starbucks' menu lists 2 shots of Signature Espresso as the default for a grande, which lines up with roughly 75 mg per shot in its numbers. Adding a shot adds roughly that much again. Asking for blonde espresso or extra shots changes the total, so the figures above apply to the drink as it comes.
Is a pumpkin spice latte espresso or coffee?
A pumpkin spice latte is espresso-based: Starbucks describes it as Signature Espresso Roast and steamed milk with pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. It isn't made with brewed drip coffee.
That matters because caffeine in a latte depends on the number of shots, not the cup size. Espresso is strong per ounce but a shot is small. For how a single shot compares to a mug of coffee, see how much caffeine is in espresso.
Does a pumpkin spice latte have more caffeine than coffee?
A tall PSL (about 75 mg) has less caffeine than an 8 oz cup of brewed coffee (about 95 mg), and a grande (about 150 mg) has less than a 16 oz brewed coffee. At about 12 mg per ounce, a 16 oz brewed coffee comes to roughly 190 mg.
| Drink | Caffeine |
|---|---|
| Tall PSL, 12 oz | about 75 mg |
| Brewed coffee, 8 oz | about 95 mg |
| Grande PSL, 16 oz | about 150 mg |
| Brewed coffee, 16 oz | about 190 mg |
| Iced venti PSL | about 225 mg |
So the PSL is a moderate coffee drink, not a strong one. The iced venti is the exception, with three shots' worth. Coffee-shop drip varies a lot by roast and brew, so a large brewed coffee from one shop can be quite different from another.
Does Dunkin' list caffeine for its pumpkin latte?
Not on its online menu. Dunkin's Pumpkin Spice Signature Latte page describes it as espresso with pumpkin and vanilla flavors and lists calories by size, but it doesn't show a caffeine figure. Since it's espresso-based, the shot count is what drives the caffeine. If you want a number for your size, ask the store or check Dunkin's nutrition guide.
What's the latest time to drink a pumpkin spice latte?
For an 11 PM bedtime, finish a tall PSL by about 3:05 PM and a grande by about 10:05 AM. These are the times each size drops below 25 mg by bedtime, using an average 5-hour half-life:
| Bedtime | Tall (75 mg) | Grande or hot venti (150 mg) | Iced venti (225 mg) | Brewed coffee, 8 oz (95 mg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM | 2:05 PM | 9:05 AM | 6:09 AM | 12:22 PM |
| 10:30 PM | 2:35 PM | 9:35 AM | 6:39 AM | 12:52 PM |
| 11:00 PM | 3:05 PM | 10:05 AM | 7:09 AM | 1:22 PM |
| Midnight | 4:05 PM | 11:05 AM | 8:09 AM | 2:22 PM |
In hours before bed, that's about 7 h 55 min for a tall, 12 h 55 min for a grande and 15 h 51 min for an iced venti. So the afternoon PSL that feels like a fall treat is really a morning drink at grande size.
These are averages. If caffeine lingers for you, choose high sensitivity in the calculator and the cutoffs move earlier. Pregnancy and some medications can slow clearance a lot.
How much caffeine is left at bedtime from an afternoon PSL?
A grande PSL at 2 PM still leaves about 43 mg in you at 11 PM, close to half a cup of coffee. The table uses the calculator's math: remaining caffeine = dose x 0.5^(hours / 5), for an 11 PM bedtime.
| PSL at | Tall (75 mg) | Grande (150 mg) | Iced venti (225 mg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noon | 16 mg | 33 mg | 49 mg |
| 2 PM | 22 mg | 43 mg | 65 mg |
| 4 PM | 28 mg | 57 mg | 85 mg |
| 6 PM | 38 mg | 75 mg | 113 mg |
This site treats about 25 mg at bedtime as a sensible ceiling. It isn't an official limit, but it's a useful line. Falling asleep fine isn't proof the latte had no effect: in an at-home study, a large caffeine dose taken 6 hours before bed cut total sleep by more than an hour. For the full curve, see how long caffeine lasts.
Can you get a decaf pumpkin spice latte?
Yes. Starbucks' menu offers Decaf Espresso Roast, plus half-decaf and other part-decaf options, for the PSL. A decaf PSL keeps the flavor and drops almost all of the caffeine, though decaf isn't completely caffeine-free. Half-decaf should cut it roughly in half.
That's the easy fix for an evening PSL. For more on what decaf still contains, see decaf coffee before bed. For healthy adults, the FDA cites 400 mg of caffeine a day as an amount not generally linked to negative effects; to tally a whole day, see how much caffeine is too much.