Do you ever feel like the caffeine gods are against you? You start your day with a mug of coffee and think that it’s going to give you the get-up-and-go energy to conquer anything. Only to find out an hour or so later that you can’t actually conquer anything because there apparently wasn’t enough caffeine in your coffee. If only there was a reliable way to know how much caffeine is actually in each pot of coffee you make. Well, now there is!
How Much Caffeine is Actually in an Average Pot of Coffee?
Your typical 8-cup drip coffee maker has an average capacity of around 60oz. Now, following the logic that a standard 6oz cup of coffee has around 71mg of caffeine, we can conclude that a 60oz pot of coffee contains… well… somewhere around ~710mg of caffeine. Naturally, this isn’t set in stone. Hell—it isn’t even set in clay.
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That’s because the amount of caffeine you’ll get in your pot of coffee will vary drastically based on several factors. Ready to hear them? I suspected that—here they are:
- The beans used. Robusta beans are the strongest coffee beans, and they contain significantly more caffeine than Arabica beans, meaning that a coffee blend containing Robusta will generally have significantly more caffeine.
- The grind size of the beans. The finer the grind, the more surface area is exposed to water, and therefore, the more caffeine will be extracted from it.
- The brewing time. Longer brewing times mean more caffeine extraction. The longer the water is in contact with the beans, the more caffeine will be released.
- The water temperature. The hotter the water, the more caffeine you’re likely to extract with it. (Unless you’re talking cold brew—but that’s a whole other beast entirely.)
So if you want to maximize your caffeine intake from a pot of coffee, make sure to use a blend that has more robusta beans, grind your beans finer than usual, and use hot water and a long brew time. Just remember to not overdo it—all of these things can result in more bitter-tasting, over-extracted coffee. Strike the right balance, and you’ll be able to enjoy a great cup of the strongest coffee.
Making the Strongest Coffee (with the Highest Caffeine Content)
On top of all that, if we’re being semi-scientific, we may as well keep in mind that the caffeine content in your coffee can also depend on how you serve it. If creamer or milk is added, for instance, the overall caffeine content of a single cup of coffee may be less than you expect.
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In short, there’s no set amount of caffeine in a 60oz pot of coffee as it can be tweaked and changed due to multiple factors. For instance, if you’re using the strongest coffee in the world, Black Insomnia, with a whopping 6x more caffeine than average coffee… well… Let’s just say you should stick to a mug at a time rather than plowing through a pot like it’s some boring old Folgers or Maxwell House. (That, or you’re in for one hell of a ride.)
So next time you brew up a pot of coffee, remember: that ~710mg caffeine content ain’t set in stone. It’s more like… rough guidelines. Get it? Got it? Good. Now, get out there—or preferably stay in—and brew the strongest coffee of your life!
Chefwaynes-bigmamou
Nigel Gildon editor:Nigel Gildon is the editor of Chef Wayne’s Big Mamou: Chef Wayne’s Big Mamou. He has worked in the publishing industry for many years and has a passion for helping new authors get their work into the hands of readers. 63 Liberty Street * Springfield, MA 01003
