{"id":656377,"date":"2026-08-25T21:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T21:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/656377\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T21:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T21:59:15","slug":"costa-cappuccino-has-three-times-more-caffeine-than-that-of-starbucks-study-finds-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/656377\/","title":{"rendered":"Costa cappuccino has three times more caffeine than that of Starbucks, study finds \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coffee<\/a> drinkers may be getting more or less caffeine in their drinks than they anticipated, with levels varying \u201cwildly\u201d between popular chains, a new study shows.<\/p>\n

The latest research from UK consumer champion Which? analyses the caffeine content in an array of drinks sold by chains Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee, Greggs, Pret A Manger<\/a> and Starbucks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It found that a medium cappuccino from Costa contains 325mg \u2013 almost 3.5 times as much as the same drink at Starbucks, at 89mg.<\/p>\n

The caffeine content in Costa\u2019s cappuccino is the equivalent of about four cans of Red Bull, Which? found.<\/p>\n

The second- and third-highest cappuccino caffeine levels were found at Greggs and Caffe Nero, at 235mg and 221mg respectively.<\/p>\n

Costa also comes out on top for drinks containing the most caffeine with its espresso shot, which contains 100mg of caffeine per serving, and its flat white, which has 241mg.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Starbucks has 45mg of caffeine per serving in its espresso shot, and 89mg in its flat white.<\/p>\n

While Costa\u2019s caffeine content for cappuccinos and single-shot espressos has not changed since Which?\u2019s last study in 2023, Caffe Nero\u2019s has noticeably increased \u2013 with its cappuccino now containing about double the level of caffeine than before.<\/p>\n

And while Starbucks continues to serve the least caffeine overall across its drinks, its caffeine levels have increased in its espressos, cappuccinos and filter coffees over three years.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Inside Ireland\u2019s coffee culture: \u2018When I said I was a barista, people thought I worked in the Four Courts\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Matcha drinks also vary significantly between the chains \u2013 with the drink, made from green tea powder, booming in popularity in recent years and prompting high-street coffee chains to put their own versions on the menu.<\/p>\n

The study found that Costa\u2019s hot matcha latte contained the highest caffeine content at 99mg, followed by Starbucks at 57mg and Pret at 28mg.<\/p>\n

Which? said its research showed customers should \u201cpay attention\u201d to the differences in caffeine levels across high-street retailers, particularly for those who are advised to restrict their intake for health reasons, including pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Jessica Carson, Which? health and wellbeing expert, said: \u201cFor many of us, there is nothing quite like a strong cup of coffee to start the day, but Which? found even matcha enthusiasts could be consuming more caffeine than intended.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research shows caffeine content varies wildly from chain to chain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you drink multiple cups a day or need to cut back for health reasons, pay attention to where you shop and what you order to avoid any unwanted side effects.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for Costa in the UK said: \u201cAt Costa Coffee, we\u2019re committed to helping customers make informed choices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why caffeine and nutritional information is available across our menu and online, so customers can choose the drinks that best-suit their individual preferences and needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also offer decaffeinated coffee and a range of non-caffeinated drinks.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoffee naturally contains caffeine and levels can vary depending on factors such as the blend, recipe and serving size.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starbucks has been contacted for comment. \u2013 PA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coffee drinkers may be getting more or less caffeine in their drinks than they anticipated, with levels varying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,6281,18,19,17,277445,29697],"class_list":["post-656377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-coffee","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-pret-a-manger","tag-starbucks"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}