How much caffeine is in a shot of espresso?
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About 63 mg in a single 1 oz shot, by the USDA’s numbers, so a double has about 126 mg. A single shot has less caffeine than an 8 oz mug of drip coffee, which has about 95 mg.
Espresso tastes like the strongest thing on the menu, and by the ounce it is. The USDA puts espresso at 212 mg of caffeine per 100 g and brewed coffee at 40, so espresso is about five times as strong. But a shot is one ounce and a mug is eight, and you drink a lot more of the weak one. It’s like hot sauce. Drop for drop it’s the strongest thing on the table, but nobody drinks a mug of it.
We think a single espresso is one of the easiest afternoon drinks to fit into a good night. Have one at 3pm and about 23 mg is left at an 11pm bedtime, less than a can of Coke has to begin with (34 mg). The double is where it starts to add up.
How much caffeine is in a double shot?
About 126 mg, a little more than an 8 oz coffee and about two thirds of a 16 oz one. A double at 3pm leaves about 46 mg at 11pm, just over the lower of our two bedtime lines (40 mg). For an 11pm bedtime, a double by about 2pm keeps you under it.
A single shot fits as late as 7pm, four hours before bed. In a 2025 trial, 100 mg taken 4 hours before bed did nothing measurable to sleep, and none of the trials tested a small dose closer to bedtime than that, so we don’t go later.
| Order | Caffeine | Left at 11pm from a 3pm drink | Latest for an 11pm bedtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single espresso | 63 mg | 23 mg | 7pm |
| Double | 126 mg | 46 mg | 2pm |
| Triple | 189 mg | 69 mg | 11am |
| Brewed coffee, 8 oz | 95 mg | 35 mg | 4pm |
| Decaf espresso | 3 to 16 mg | under 6 mg | any time up to 7pm |
The latest times keep you under 40 mg when you fall asleep, on the average half-life of 5 hours.
What about lattes and cappuccinos?
Milk has no caffeine, so a latte, a flat white or a cappuccino has the caffeine of its shots and nothing more. A big latte made with one shot has about 63 mg, and the same size with two shots has about 126. The size of the cup tells you less than the number of shots, so ask how many go in yours.
Decaf espresso isn’t zero
In a 2006 lab test, decaf espresso shots from one coffee chain measured 3.0 to 15.8 mg each, so the strongest had about five times the caffeine of the weakest. Even the top of that range is a quarter of a regular shot. A decaf cortado after dinner is fine for almost everyone (does decaf have caffeine?).
Try it on your day
The drinks tool puts espresso beside a mug to scale, and the cutoff clock below shows what your shots leave at your own bedtime. Does espresso have more caffeine than coffee? takes on the myth.
63 mg
Espresso, 1 shot. USDA FoodData Central 171891: 212 mg per 100 g, and a 1 oz shot is 29.6 g. One at 3pm still leaves about 23 mg at an 11pm bedtime.
When should I stop?
When you fall asleep at 11:00pm
83 mgA measured cost
You'll fall asleep with about a cup of coffee in you.
- Brewed coffee, 8 oz95 mg
Brewed coffee, 16 oz190 mg
Your last drink, a 16 oz coffee at 3:00pm
- Under 40 mg at sleep
- by 8:10am
- Under 80 mg
- by 2:45pm
The full clock, with the band, 3am and the table by drink.
5 sources
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy: brewed coffee (171890), espresso (171891), brewed black tea (173227) and brewed green tea (171917)fdc.nal.usda.gov
- Gardiner C and others, Dose and timing effects of caffeine on subsequent sleep: a randomized clinical crossover trial, Sleep, 2025doi.org
- McCusker RR and others, Caffeine content of decaffeinated coffee, Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 2006pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- The Coca-Cola Company, What is caffeine?coca-colacompany.com
- Antonio J and others, Common questions and misconceptions about caffeine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2024doi.org
