People seem to be more concerned about their health trying to be critical to what they are eating and drinking. The food industry on the other side follows the customer and trying to make our food healthier or sometimes just creating myths to give us some misleading ideas about the healthy food.
Myth: Espresso contains less caffeine than another sorts of coffee, because water steam passes coffee powder so quickly that caffeine doesn’t have enough time to dissolve. Another explanation given is that beans used to make espresso contain less caffeine because it “evaporates” (sublimates would be a correct word when you refer to “evaporating” of solid materials) by a longer roasting process that is needed to make darker espresso bones.
Well, bare facts are the best to see if this statement is correct or not. According to the International Food Information Council a cup of coffee (brewed) contains about 65 – 120 mg caffeine and a cup of espresso – just 30 – 50 mg. It looks like espresso indeed contains less caffeine. But don’t forget that espresso cup is much smaller than a regular cup of coffee (and mostly it’s a beaker). So, one coffee cup contains about 65 – 120 mg caffeine in about 200 ml of coffee and a cup of espresso contains 30 – 50 mg in about 30 ml of coffee. Now we can see that the concentration of caffeine in espresso is higher (1 – 1,7 mg/ml) than in a regular coffee (0,3 – 0,6 mg/ml). That means, that neither the way of roasting nor the way of making decreases the caffeine amount in espresso – it contains even more caffeine than a regular coffee, because you use more or the same amount of coffee powder for the less amount of water.
But the fact is still a fact – if you want to cut your daily caffeine you can better drink a small cup of espresso than a big beaker of coffee. But if you really concern, you should drink a regular coffee measured by an espresso cup.
And now it’s time for some logic to support the facts and to give more explanation about a myth.
First of all, caffeine dissolves very well in water. There are two facts that increase its solubility – temperature and pressure. At 100 °C you can dissolve almost 4 times more caffeine in the same amount of water than at 80 °C. Pressure also contributes to the better solubility. Espresso making occurs at higher temperature (even if there is a couple of degrees difference) and higher pressure that create better conditions for caffeine do dissolve, although the time of contact between water and coffee powder is shorter. Thus, it seems unlikely that the way of making espresso leads to a less amount of caffeine.
It’s not easy to find out if roasting indeed helps to reduce caffeine in coffee beans. Caffeine is indeed an easily sublimating substance and it seems to be logic that higher roasting temperature or longer process can decrease the amount of caffeine. But the facts shown above do not support this idea. One of the clues might be, that espresso is not always made of just longer roasted bones. In many cases it’s a mixture of different (mostly two types) of coffee sorts with different amount of caffeine. In general, espresso coffee powder contains more caffeine than a mixture for a regular coffee.
Myth: Espresso contains less caffeine than another sorts of coffee, because water steam passes coffee powder so quickly that caffeine doesn’t have enough time to dissolve. Another explanation given is that beans used to make espresso contain less caffeine because it “evaporates” (sublimates would be a correct word when you refer to “evaporating” of solid materials) by a longer roasting process that is needed to make darker espresso bones.
Well, bare facts are the best to see if this statement is correct or not. According to the International Food Information Council a cup of coffee (brewed) contains about 65 – 120 mg caffeine and a cup of espresso – just 30 – 50 mg. It looks like espresso indeed contains less caffeine. But don’t forget that espresso cup is much smaller than a regular cup of coffee (and mostly it’s a beaker). So, one coffee cup contains about 65 – 120 mg caffeine in about 200 ml of coffee and a cup of espresso contains 30 – 50 mg in about 30 ml of coffee. Now we can see that the concentration of caffeine in espresso is higher (1 – 1,7 mg/ml) than in a regular coffee (0,3 – 0,6 mg/ml). That means, that neither the way of roasting nor the way of making decreases the caffeine amount in espresso – it contains even more caffeine than a regular coffee, because you use more or the same amount of coffee powder for the less amount of water.
But the fact is still a fact – if you want to cut your daily caffeine you can better drink a small cup of espresso than a big beaker of coffee. But if you really concern, you should drink a regular coffee measured by an espresso cup.
And now it’s time for some logic to support the facts and to give more explanation about a myth.
First of all, caffeine dissolves very well in water. There are two facts that increase its solubility – temperature and pressure. At 100 °C you can dissolve almost 4 times more caffeine in the same amount of water than at 80 °C. Pressure also contributes to the better solubility. Espresso making occurs at higher temperature (even if there is a couple of degrees difference) and higher pressure that create better conditions for caffeine do dissolve, although the time of contact between water and coffee powder is shorter. Thus, it seems unlikely that the way of making espresso leads to a less amount of caffeine.
It’s not easy to find out if roasting indeed helps to reduce caffeine in coffee beans. Caffeine is indeed an easily sublimating substance and it seems to be logic that higher roasting temperature or longer process can decrease the amount of caffeine. But the facts shown above do not support this idea. One of the clues might be, that espresso is not always made of just longer roasted bones. In many cases it’s a mixture of different (mostly two types) of coffee sorts with different amount of caffeine. In general, espresso coffee powder contains more caffeine than a mixture for a regular coffee.
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