How much caffeine is there in hot chocolate?
A typical 8oz cup of hot chocolate can contain between 0mg to 25mg of caffeine. An 8oz cup of homemade hot chocolate contains 5mg of caffeine according to the USDA Food Data, while a Starbucks tall hot chocolate (12oz) contains 20mg of caffeine.
How about your childhood favorite hot cocoa mix, Swiss Miss? According to their website, there is no indication of any caffeine present. Same with the USDA Food Data page.
What about the caffeine content in your typical regular cup of brewed coffee?
An 8oz cup of coffee contains 96mg of caffeine according to the USDA Food Data website. A 12oz “tall” cup of Pike Place Roast coffee from Starbucks contains 235mg of caffeine according to the Starbucks website.
Why is there such a big difference in the amount of caffeine reported in coffee?
Coffee is made from a natural product, and there is always variance in the amount of caffeine between coffee beans of even the same plant. Most brewed coffee from cafes nowadays are made from Arabica beans – but note that a lot of instant coffees are made from Robusta beans which contain almost twice as much caffeine! Strength of the brew recipe varies between every cafe – ie. the ratio of coffee grounds to the amount of water used for brewing.