Customers wanted to know just how much caffeine they were getting each time they hit-up their local barista for a coffee fix. 

Crema Coffee Garage’s Ravelle King realised there was very little, and often inconsistent, published information available about coffee brewed under Australian conditions.

Ms King said Australia had developed its own coffee making methods and much of the published research on caffeine levels were not relevant. 

“Our coffee culture has been inspired by a very diverse, multi-cultural background,” she said. “We kind of got the best bits of advice on coffee from all over the globe, and then we funnelled that down into a concentrated version and turned it into some that is high quality.”

The Australian government recommends the maximum daily intake of caffeine should not exceed 400mg per day. But just how much caffeine you are getting in each cup varies because Australians use multiple brewing methods to take their coffee. 

“In Australia there is a focus on health and people started to ask how much am I actually consuming?” Ms King said.

To answer that question Crema Coffee Garage joined forces with chemistry staff and students at the University of Newcastle to try to determine standard caffeine levels using the five most popular Australian brewing methods. 

The results found that espresso coffee contained 126mg of caffeine per cup, meaning three cups a day was the limit to stay within health recommendations. 

Stove-top espresso was found to contain 65-73mg per cup, making it okay to drink as many as five cups a day. Cold brews were found to have 134mg per cup, meaning it should be limited to two cups a day.

Plunger coffee drinkers could safely consume five cups a day with each cup containing 74-87mg of caffeine.

Using the pour over method, it was found each cup contained 173mg of caffeine, meaning no more than two a day should be consumed to stay within health guidelines.