For many of us, caffeine is an absolute necessity when it comes to acting as a functional member of society before lunchtime. Without a morning hit, coffee fiends can be found up and down the country, semi-comatose on a commuting stranger’s shoulder or trembling in the doorway of a local coffee shop, clawing at the door and tugging at a Barista’s apron, begging for a double shot Americano. Thankfully, a recent feature by Tech Insider has detailed how to get the most bang for our buck when it comes to caffeine levels in coffee, so that we will never again be seen fannying around wondering whether a skinny soya caramel frappe will wake us up in the morning. Here’s your need to know guide:
Filter or Espresso?
Per ounce, Espresso has a tasty 45-75mg of caffeine, whereas filter has just 20mg.
Roasting
According to Tech Insider, when coffee beans are roasted, they expand in size but lose water. When measured in scoops, lighter roasts have more caffeine, yet when weighed, caffeine levels are about the same.
Species
When considering which of your morning bev’s will give you the biggest rush, it’s worth considering bean types. 70% of the worlds coffee comes from our trusted chums, the Arabica beans, yet Robusta beans provide nearly twice the caffeine (we can practically hear the heart palpitations). Robusta coffee has a more bitter flavour, and less nuanced flavours, so if you're more concerned about subtle nutty and chocolatey undertones than how much it'll wake you up, go for Arabica. Robusta is cheaper to produce, so is commonly used in instant coffee, yet you can also enjoy it in classic Italian espresso.
(Bump 'n) Grind
You probably haven’t thought about the implications of surface area since year 9 science, but bear with. If you use a finer grind, the coffee has a greater surface area, and therefore more caffeine can be extracted.
Temperature
If you’ve got time to crack out a thermometer in the morning, chances are you have time to wake up naturally without a mahussive caffeine injection, but there we go. If your water is heated between 90 and 96 degrees, it will bring out the most caffeine.
Ice Ice Baby
With this in mind, it makes sense that iced coffees are lower in caffeine than hot coffee.
If you can deal with the morning jitters, wake up and smell a finely ground, Robusta bean, double shot espresso. You can thank us when you’ve woken up.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.