Calculate your caffiene habit

One day last year, I was in a Starbucks, early. The guy in front of me ordered a “Red Eye”. There was a Barrista-in-Training who was instructed that a Red Eye is a brewed coffee with an added shot of Espresso. I remember thinking, “Jeez, what an addict.”

But it got me wondering about the caffeine amounts in various products. Starbucks doesn’t advertise the milligrams of caffeine in their drinks, but I did find a Canadian Public Health website that broke down the levels for various drinks.

I was stunned to find out that a 12-oz Coke was 34 mg, a latte with two shots of Starbuck espresso was 135, but a Grande (16 oz) Coffee (brewed coffee, no espresso) 372 mg. 372! To get that much buzz from a latte, you’d have to order an extra four shots (“Six-shot grande skim latte no whip”).

I see why Starbucks doesn’t advertise this. Before I found out, I was buying a Triple Grande Skim No-Whip mocha. So my 16oz mocha (espresso, milk, and chocolate… essentially a juiced up hot chocolate) was setting me back about $4.50 a day. Switching a Venti Bold reduced my bill to $2/day and upped my caffeine from 165mg to 465mg.

I’ve been meaning to tell that story for a while, but finally got the impetus today when Lifehacker linked to a very slick Caffeine Database. Highly recommended is you have a “caffeine problem” like me, and have always wondered exactly how much more kick Mountain Dew has over Coke.