Comments on: Does Dark Roast Coffee Have More Caffeine?

By: eggomaniac

eggomaniac — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:32:34 +0000

clarify above,,, the robusta /bean/ has twice the cafeeine. I have no idea about the final product. My interest and experience with instant coffess is severley limited.

By: eggomaniac

eggomaniac — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:26:47 +0000

Robusta, which is used for instant coffee, has twice as much caffeine as Arabica.
Not much difference by weight OR volume between Arabicas of light to dark roast.
It ‘boils’ down to taste and do NOT believe dark roast tastes better, unless you’re the type that likes burnt toast.
If you want to know what coffee really tastes like, get light roast taken off the heat in time with second pop. Off gas for a day and hand grind. Brew in a French press and drink with NO cream or sugar. Forget the burnt and bitter taste you love and look for the sweet, delicate and acidic flavour in the upper pallette.
Warning, after savouring REAL coffee taste for a week, you mind find the taste of burnt coffee to be mildly disgusting.
Light roast has a superior, real, coffee taste to dark brewed charcoal.

By: Yesbut

Yesbut — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:59:12 +0000

“So what have we learned?

A 1lb bag of dark roast coffee has more caffine than a 1lb bag of light roast because coffee expands as is it roasted, but loses weight due to baking out moisture.”

– Which is all well and good if you brew by the pound or by weight, but you don’t ( unless you are unique in your brewing practice ). We brew by volume measure (scoop, tablespoon, etc) at which point the lighter roasted coffee has the higher caffeine content.

By: T.

T. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:04:14 +0000

Oggy,
I used to work for Second Cup and was taught that darker roast coffee contains less caffeine than lighter roasts. If this information is not correct then it should not be taught, or it should be modified as necessary. Perhaps we can challenge Starbucks and Second Cup if they are teaching inaccurate information, to their employees but I don’t think that the wage a person receives is relevant. Nor should we assume that the wage that a person receives is synonymous with their ability to retain and share information that they have learned and therefore believe to be correct.

I have been operating under the learned knowledge that a darker roast contains less caffeine, however I would be interested to learn the definitive truth!

By: Mat

Mat — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:20:21 +0000

The difference of caffeine between roasts is minimal, I do find it interesting watching people choose there coffee’s, I find caffeine content is mostly in the coffee drinkers head. It really is fun to watch. As for Phaedra The Fair Trade Organic is great but be aware most coffee already is organic (caffeine is a natural pesticide) and don’t take the Fair Trade logo at face value. Unfortunately places like Indonesia are still very corrupt and most of that “FAIR TRADE” money never makes it back to the farmer. Just thought I’d let you know.

Enjoy your coffee y’all any way you like it.

By: oggy

oggy — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:26:02 +0000

“Starbucks employees get paid $6.00 an hour for a reason.”

What a rude Tw*t.

By: Robb

Robb — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:01:16 +0000

I just saw the espresso comment.
Espresso has more caffine per fluid ounce than coffee.
If you are comparing a 1 oz shot to a full cup of coffee, sure there is more caffine in the cup of coffee. However if you fill that same cup with espresso you have more than twice the caffine.

Also due to the higher temperature, and finer coffee grinds there is more caffine released in espresso, a darker roasted bean that contains more caffine by weight.

So what have we learned?

A 1lb bag of dark roast coffee has more caffine than a 1lb bag of light roast because coffee expands as is it roasted, but loses weight due to baking out moisture.
Espresso has more caffine than coffee if comparing similar volume.
Starbucks employees get paid $6.00 an hour for a reason.

By: Robb

Robb — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:21:53 +0000

Dark Roasted coffee if bought by the pound has more caffine due to less water content.
Starbucks is incorrect in asserting that the darker the roast the least caffine.

By: Coffee-GOD

Coffee-GOD — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:28:21 +0000

Heres how it is: Everyone likes their own thing. If you like Starbucks, Hey! its America, drink it.(just know you are ethically inferior). Caffine is much higher by volume in espresso, however most people don’t down 16oz of pure esspresso shots every morning without ending up in the hospital. Generally speaking, a 12oz cup of drip = a double shot of full pour esspresso. This does vary by roast. As a general tasting rule, lighter roasts like Breakfast Blends are higher in Caffine, due to less oil loss durring the roasting process. Likewise darker roasts such as French or Italian are somewhat ligher in caffine content. These coffees are traditionally referred to as desert coffees, to be enjoyed in the evening. Really its more about taste and preference. However,and i’m suprised this is not more common, if I’m really really hungover, I order up a quad 16oz “shot in the dark” (sometimes called a ‘redeye’). This is a nearly full cup of drip coffee, topped-off with 4 shots of espresso. You may want a little room for cream on this one. AHHHH….coffee.

By: Erik

Erik — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:27:11 +0000

Wow… so much misinformation… not sure where to begin.

Josh you are totally right that if people were to try a coffee from Elyian room, or Bulldog in toronto, they would never bother with starbucks or tims again. Though i must say, traditional european coffee is not fresh roasted… they are left to sit. I much prefer the fresh roast.

The short brew on an espresso is a much better brew than drip. The oils in coffee and the CO2 arent disolved nor extracted by sitting in water. It takes the pressure from the espresso machine. It has nothing to do with the time.

I cant even be bothered to address the horrid over roasting that has become so prevellant in the uncultured american society. Starbucks = Charbucks. You shouldnt taste the roast. The roast should be optimized to compliment the flavour of the bean. You should taste the bean, not the roast.