PauseCafé › Caffeine content › Cold Brew
How much caffeine is in cold brew?
150 to 250 mg
For a 16 oz serving, roughly 470 ml. That is the widest range of any coffee drink, and it is not sloppiness: cold brew is usually made as a concentrate, then diluted. How much you dilute decides everything.
Why the figures vary
Three things explain a range this wide.
Concentrate, not a finished drink. This is the heart of it. Cold brew is brewed at a ratio of about 1:8, against 1:16 for hot coffee — twice the grounds. Coffee shops then cut it with water or milk. A cold brew concentrate drunk neat can exceed 500 mg per serving; the same concentrate diluted by half lands near 200.
Twelve to twenty-four hours of steeping. Cold water extracts slowly, so the process compensates with time. Longer steeping pulls more caffeine, and no two shops use the same schedule.
Nitro changes nothing, and everything. Nitro cold brew is the same drink, infused with nitrogen. The gas adds no caffeine, but nitro is typically served from concentrate with less dilution: a grande nitro at Starbucks reaches 280 mg.
By serving
| Size | Volume | Caffeine |
|---|---|---|
| Small (12 oz) | 355 ml | 155 mg |
| Standard (16 oz) | 473 ml | 205 mg |
| Large (20 oz) | 590 ml | 255 mg |
| Nitro (16 oz) | 473 ml | 280 mg |
| Concentrate, undiluted | varies | 500 mg + |
Figures for typical coffee shop servings. A 2017 study from the University of Victoria measured five cold brews from the same shop and found 168 to 246 mg — a 46 % spread within one establishment.
A single 16 oz cold brew is already half the 400 mg daily mark for a healthy adult. Two of them, and you are at the mark before lunch.
Cold brew or iced coffee: which has more?
Cold brew, and by a clear margin. Around 205 mg against 165 mg for the same 16 oz of iced coffee.
But the reason is not the cold. Iced coffee is brewed hot then poured over ice — a normal coffee, chilled. Cold brew uses twice the grounds and steeps for half a day. It is a different drink that happens to be served cold.
| Drink | Volume | Caffeine |
|---|---|---|
| Cold brew | 473 ml | 205 mg |
| Iced coffee | 473 ml | 165 mg |
| Espresso | 30 ml | 77 mg |
| Filter coffee | 240 ml | 108 mg |
| Energy drink | 250 ml | 80 mg |
A widely shared claim says cold brew has less caffeine than hot coffee, because cold water extracts less. It is true per gram of coffee — and irrelevant in the cup, because cold brew uses twice the grounds. Both statements are correct; only one describes what you drink.
And at bedtime, how much is left?
A 205 mg cold brew at 2 pm still leaves about 51 mg in your system at 11 pm. The same drink at 4 pm leaves 76 mg — close to the 100 mg mark EFSA uses for sleep.
Cold brew is the drink where afternoon timing matters most, simply because the dose is the largest of any everyday coffee.
The caffeine at bedtime calculator runs this for every drink of your day.
Frequently asked
Why do figures range from 150 to 250 mg?
Because cold brew is a concentrate before it is a drink. Shops brew at roughly 1:8, then dilute to taste. The published figures describe different points along that dilution, which is why they never agree.
Does nitro cold brew have more caffeine?
Usually yes, but not because of the nitrogen. Nitro is served from concentrate with less dilution, so a 16 oz nitro can reach 280 mg against 205 for standard cold brew. The gas itself adds nothing.
Is it true that cold brew has less caffeine than hot coffee?
Per gram of coffee, yes — cold water extracts less efficiently. In the cup, no, because cold brew uses about twice the grounds. Both claims are true; only the second describes what you actually drink.
Can I drink cold brew in the afternoon?
It is the coffee that deserves most caution. At 205 mg, a single serving at 4 pm still leaves around 76 mg at an 11 pm bedtime, close to the 100 mg mark EFSA associates with delayed sleep onset.
How much cold brew is too much?
EFSA considers 400 mg a day of no concern for a healthy adult, which is two 16 oz cold brews. For a single dose the mark is 200 mg — one standard serving already sits at that line.
Other drinks
⚕️ Wellbeing information. The figures on this page are typical orders of magnitude, not individual measurements. They are not medical advice or a diagnosis. If you have questions about your intake, trouble sleeping, or any concern about pregnancy or medical treatment, speak to a healthcare professional.
Cold brew counts double
PauseCafé logs it with its real volume and shows what remains hour by hour.
