The Morning Pick-Me-Up

What comes to mind when you hear the word breakfast in the States? Waffles, pancakes, eggs, toast, and coffee. How the same word in Italy? Croissants, yogurt, fruit, and espresso. The common factor is caffeine in American coffee and in Italian espresso. What is the difference between the two?

First and foremost the way the two are produced differs greatly:

• Coffee is brewed with hot water and ground up roasted coffee beans. The hot water is allowed to mix with the ground coffee long enough to extract the flavor. Though, over-extraction can lead to the presence of unnecessary bitter flavors. The end product is a dark homogenous liquid.
• Espresso is also brewed with hot water and ground coffee beans. However, the method of brewing is unique. Hot water, close to boiling, is forced through finely ground and compact coffee beans, all under high pressure. This process creates a syrup-like drink with solids and liquids, as well as a top cream layer, which comes from the emulsification of oils into a colloid.

Nonetheless, both coffee and espresso are used as a pick-me-up. This comes from the presence of caffeine in both drinks. But do both contain the same amount of caffeine? If no, which one contains more?

• A standard coffee size is 8 ounces but coffees range from 6 ounces to 24 ounces nowadays. The amount of caffeine in a standard 8 ounce cup can range anywhere from 65 mg to 120 mg according to the National Coffee Association. The range is so wide because of differences in brewing time, water temperature, grind level, bean type, roast level, and etc.
• On the other hand a standard serving size of espresso is 1 ounce. There is not too much deviation from this size. And this standard contains between 30 mg and 50 mg of caffeine.

From the perspective of the beverage taken as a whole, yes coffee has more caffeine. But from the perspective of caffeine per ounce, espresso has more. Espresso has about 30 to 50 mg per ounce. Coffee contains 8.125 to 15 mg per ounce. Most often we drink an 8-ounce cup of coffee or a 1-ounce shot of espresso. Thus for our purposes, coffee has more caffeine. Even if you change it up a bit with a cappuccino, it will have less caffeine than a cup of coffee because it is simply a shot of espresso with hot milk and steamed-foam milk. In conclusion, this means we can drink even more espressos and cappuccinos while in Italy!

Caffeine Content in Espresso versus Drip Coffee:
http://coffeechemistry.com/index.php/News/Caffeine/caffeine-content-in-espresso-vs-drip-coffee.html

Is it True That Espresso Has Less Caffeine Than Regular Coffee?:
http://coffeefaq.com/site/node/18