Cold brew vs coffee: caffeine compared
Cold brew has 180 mg of caffeine per 10.1 oz cup. Filter coffee has 96 mg per 8 oz cup.
Per serving cold brew is ahead: 180 mg against 96 mg, 1.9 times as much. Per 100 ml cold brew is ahead: 60 mg against 40 mg, about 50% more.
| Cold brew | Filter coffee | |
|---|---|---|
| Serving | 10.1 oz cup (300 ml) | 8 oz cup (240 ml) |
| Caffeine per serving | 180 mg | 96 mg |
| Caffeine per 100 ml | 60 mg | 40 mg |
| Caffeine per fl oz | 17.7 mg | 11.8 mg |
| In the same 12 oz (355 ml) | 213 mg | 142 mg |
| Share of the 400 mg daily limit | 45% | 24% |
| Peak level, 45 minutes in | 164 mg | 88 mg |
| Time to fall below 40 mg | 12 and a half hours | 7 and a half hours |
| Latest for an 11 pm bedtime | 10:26 am | 3:36 pm |
| Servings to reach 400 mg | 2.2 | 4.2 |
What the numbers mean
Cold brew is stronger than hot filter coffee, and the reason is the recipe, not the temperature. It is made with more ground coffee per litre and steeped for twelve hours or more, and it is usually served in a larger cup.
Ice changes the picture in a cafe. A cup filled with ice holds less liquid, and some shops dilute the concentrate more than others, so a bought cold brew can land anywhere from a little over a filter coffee to nearly double. The figure here is for an undiluted serving.
The full page for each
Common questions
Which has more caffeine, cold brew or filter coffee?
Cold brew. One 10.1 oz cup holds 180 mg, against 96 mg in one 8 oz cup of filter coffee: 1.9 times as much.
Which is the better choice late in the day?
Filter coffee. For an 11 pm bedtime one serving can be had as late as 3:36 pm, against 10:26 am for cold brew.
How many servings of filter coffee equal one cold brew?
About 1.9. One 10.1 oz cup of cold brew holds 180 mg and one 8 oz cup of filter coffee holds 96 mg.
How many can I have in a day?
Going by the 400 mg daily limit for healthy adults: about 2 servings of cold brew or 4 of filter coffee, if that is the only caffeine you have. Anything else with caffeine in it counts toward the same limit.
More comparisons
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Where these numbers come from
Every figure is calculated with the model the Cira app uses: caffeine peaks 45 minutes after you take it and halves every 5.7 hours, a typical value for healthy adults. The 40 mg sleep line is a working threshold of the model, and the 400 mg daily limit is the figure used by the European Food Safety Authority and the US FDA. These are averages. Smoking, pregnancy, the contraceptive pill and some medicines change how fast you clear caffeine. How the numbers are worked out.
