# How much caffeine is in cold brew coffee?

A 350 ml cold brew carries 200 mg of caffeine, more than double a filter cup. Why the brewing method loads it up, and how late it stays with you.

## Numbers the app uses

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Default serving | 350 ml |
| Hydration factor | 1.00 |
| Counts toward the daily goal | 350 ml per serving |
| Caffeine | 200 mg per serving |
| Calories | 2 kcal per 100 ml (7 kcal per serving) |

## 200 milligrams, and the brewing method explains it

A 350 ml cold brew is 200 mg of caffeine: more than twice a 240 ml filter cup and more than three espresso shots. Cold water is a poor solvent for coffee, so cold brew compensates in the two ways available to it. It uses a lot of grounds relative to water, and it steeps for twelve to twenty-four hours. That pulls out less of the harsh, fast-dissolving compounds, which is why it tastes mild. It still pulls out plenty of the caffeine, which does not taste of much either way. The figure here is for a ready-to-drink cold brew. Concentrate sold by the bottle is stronger again before you dilute it.

## Counted by the glass, not by the shot

Most coffee in the catalog is dose-based. An espresso, a latte and a cappuccino each carry a shot count, and every extra shot adds 63 mg. Cold brew has no shot to count, because it is one continuous brew, poured. So the catalog marks it volume-based and hangs the whole 200 mg on the serving size instead. That leaves the amount doing all the work. Half a glass, 175 ml, is 100 mg; fill it and you are back at 200. Set the amount to what is really in the glass, because there is no second field to correct it with.

## It reaches further into the evening than you think

Because the dose is so large, the tail is long. A cold brew at two in the afternoon still leaves around 73 mg in the body at ten at night, on an average five-hour half-life. That is more than a mug of black tea, taken at bedtime. On days with a cold brew in them, the app's coffee deadline shifts noticeably earlier. That is the curve doing its sums, not a nudge. On hydration it is straightforward. The factor is 1.00, so all 350 ml count, and at 7 kcal there is nothing else to it.

## Source

Hydration factors follow the Beverage Hydration Index. Maughan RJ, Watson P, Cordery PA, et al. “A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2016;103(3):717-723. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26702122/

Page: https://waterchamp.app/drinks/cold-brew/