One of the simplest forms of coffee that you can make at your home quickly is Instant Coffee.
Just stir a tablespoon of coffee into hot water or milk and you have the perfect drink to start your day.
It’s that easy!
Coffee, the regular drink, is at times looked down upon because of the caffeine content in it.
Too much of caffeine intake can at times pose health hazards if not taken in the right quantity on a daily basis.
While most people think that Instant Coffee is quite unhealthy, as a shocker, it contains lesser proportion of caffeine as compared to the other forms of coffee.
If you don’t know how many mg of caffeine in one tablespoon of coffee is present then let me tell you that information first.
If you take one tablespoon of ground Arabica coffee, then it will contain around 60 mg of caffeine.
On the other side, one tablespoon of ground Robusta coffee will have around 110 mg of caffeine.
But, the main question in this article is how much caffeine does instant coffee contain?
I am here to provide you this answer.
It’s time to get down to some facts.
According to a report released by USDA, one teaspoon (0.9 grams) of instant coffee has 28.3 mg of caffeine.
A rounded teaspoon (the normal instant coffee serving size) is nearly double that, or two teaspoons of instant coffee for every 7 ounces of water.
This means that 3.4 teaspoons of instant coffee will be required to prepare a 12-ounce cup of coffee.
That works out to 96.22 mg of caffeine.
The FDA suggests that you should limit your daily caffeine intake to 400 mg or fewer, which translates to four cups of instant coffee each day.
So, by now you must have understood that 2-3 cups of instant coffee is a safer quantity for your daily coffee intake.
Two to three instant coffee cups a day will not pose any harm for your health considering that it has lower caffeine level than the above recommended data.
FAQ Related to Caffeine Levels in Instant Coffee
Does Instant Coffee Have Caffeine?
Instant Coffee contains caffeine but, is much marginal than your traditional brewed coffee or espresso coffee.
If you are planning to cut down your daily caffeine content, then you can immensely benefit by taking instant coffee.
Selecting a decaffeinated instant coffee brand like Nescafe and Starbucks, can be an option too in case you want to extremely reduce the total caffeine intake from your diet.
The actual caffeine content depends primarily on the type of coffee beans used.
But a 340 g cup of brewed coffee contains 136 mg of caffeine on an average.
A similar-sized cup of instant coffee contains 70% more caffeine (96 mg).
A shot of espresso (1 ounce) contains around 64 mg of caffeine.
A 12-ounce latte with two shots of espresso contains 128 mg of caffeine.
That cup of instant coffee will contain 25% less caffeine!
When measured in ounces, instant coffee contains 7.9 milligrams of caffeine per ounce, compared to 11.3 milligrams in brewed coffee and 64 milligrams in espresso.
What is the overarching message here?
Per ounce, instant coffee contains significantly less caffeine than the brewed coffee or espresso.
Since a 340 grams cup of instant coffee contains the same amount of caffeine as a 226 grams cup of brewed coffee.
Because of this fact, you can drink significantly more instant coffee with lesser health issues than that of your regular ground coffee.
If you order a double shot latte, then you will consume approximately 1.3 times higher the amount of caffeine than the caffeine present in the instant coffee.
All these facts imply that you can safely consume 2-3 cups of instant coffee everyday without any risk of caffeine overdose.
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How Much Caffeine is Present in One Teaspoon and One Tablespoon of Instant Coffee?
One tablespoon of ground Arabica or Robusta coffee has around 60mg and 110mg of caffeine, respectively.
Most of the times, instant Coffee is made out of Robusta coffee beans that have a comparatively lesser caffeine content and are cheaper.
Going by the USDA, 1 rounded teaspoon of instant coffee (1.8 g in weight) provides 57 mg of caffeine.
One tablespoon of instant coffee contains around 12 grams of caffeine.
It is a big amount.
In order to make a regular coffee, you would need about 2 tablespoons of coffee.
That makes the total amount to 24 grams of caffeine with one cup of instant coffee.
How Many Teaspoons of Instant Coffee is Too Much?
Instant coffee is a favorite choice for millions of coffee lovers.
However, the excess of everything does have a counter effect.
I want to talk about the maximum safe quantity of instant coffee which is good for your health.
Ideally, it shouldn’t be more than 4 teaspoons in a cup of coffee.
Anything more than that can both tamper with the taste of the coffee and also have some health consequences if consumed too much.
According to Mayoclinic.org, healthy adults should limit their caffeine intake to 400mg a day.
Any amount higher than that can have adverse effects on your kidney, liver, and heart.
How Much Caffeine is in Nescafe Instant Coffee?
The healthy dose, according to Nescafé, is between 35 mg to 40 mg.
So, in a nutshell, it’s fantastic news for all of us.
1 teaspoon of Nescafé instant coffee is enough to make and fill a 120 ml cup of the drink.
Therefore, one Nescafe instant coffee cup contains just 35–40 mg of caffeine.
This means you can have 2-3 Nescafe coffee cups everyday without any health issues.
How Much Caffeine is in 1 gram of Coffee Powder?
The caffeine content is subjective to the kind of beans used and the brand of the coffee.
Going by the popular and the most commonly found quantity, 1 gram of coffee powder usually contains 0.3 mg of caffeine.
It is a small quantity and it can be consumed on a regular basis without any health complications.
If you consider having ground Arabica or Robusta coffee, then it will contain around 60-110 mg of caffeine in one tablespoon of coffee.
Instant Coffee Caffeine vs Brewed Coffee Caffeine
Both instant coffee and brewed coffee are consumed everyday by millions of coffee lovers across the globe.
Brewed coffee is made by pouring hot water into the ground coffee.
The caffeine content in a brewed coffee comes from the ground coffee used to make it.
Both instant and brewed ground coffee differ from each other in many factors.
To understand it better, let us have a look at their differences.
1. Ground Coffee is Made from Actual Coffee Beans while Instant Coffee is By-product
Their biggest distinction is that they are made of different materials.
Yes, both instant coffee and ground coffee are coffee in essence.
A bag of ground coffee is a collection of coffee beans that have been ground to a certain size.
The type of beans used usually determines how delicious the coffee is.
This indicates that the coffee cherries have been roasted to a specific degree after they have been plucked, dried and the beans have been extracted from them.
They are then ground to a certain size based on the preferences of the coffee producer.
But that’s where the main coffee making process is completed.
After that, the ground coffee is packaged and get delivered to market.
Instant coffee is basically a ground coffee that has already been brewed into usable coffee.
Only the liquid is then cooled and dried (through several procedures), leaving only the solids in the coffee.
2. Instant Coffee Dissolves in Water Faster but Ground Coffee Does not
Because instant coffee is also another version of brewed coffee, it usually dissolves in the water or liquid pretty quickly.
This also means that you should be careful about how much water you add to your instant coffee.
Instant coffee has a fairly flat flavor and too much water can make it worse.
Therefore, it is highly advisable to add a bit less water than what the instructions on the package advise to avoid making your coffee watery.
Ground coffee, on the other hand, is denser and it does not dissolve in water no matter what you do to it.
Even if you blend it into oblivion and make an odd smoothie, it would not dissolve but instead be sliced into a very fine powder.
If you let the combination remain for a few minutes, the powdered coffee will sink to the bottom.
3. Ground Coffee Has Higher Caffeine Content than the Instant Coffee
Ground coffee has a higher caffeine level than that of instant coffee.
The longer the coffee is immersed in water, the more caffeine is extracted.
Ground coffee produces an easily adjustable coffee brew that you can always tune as desired.
However, you do not have such control with instant coffee.
The amount of caffeine extracted is entirely dependent on the coffee brand that manufactures that particular flavor of instant coffee.
They frequently aim to manufacture the strongest coffee powder possible, but it has its own disadvantages too.
4. Ground Coffee Tastes Better than The Instant Coffee
As far as the overall taste and flavor quality is concerned, ground coffee always wins anytime over the instant coffee.
Instant coffee is usually of inferior quality as compared to the ground coffee.
This is because instant coffee is mainly manufactured from Robusta beans which are cheaper and inferior to Arabica beans.
They are inexpensive but they do contain less caffeine level as compared to the ground coffee.
However, this is precisely what makes instant coffee tastes bitter because instant Robusta is more substandard than the brewed Robusta.
5. Instant Coffee Takes Less Time to Brew Than the Ground Coffee
As the name suggests, instant coffee is famous and preferred for being the readily available coffee.
It dissolves in hot water or milk instantly.
Whereas in case of ground coffee, it requires pretty long time to make coffee with water.
Brewed coffee is majorly based out of the ground coffee beans and thus it takes a few minutes to get properly brewed.
Another thing about ground coffee is that the more you keep it brewing, the more caffeine content is extracted from the beans.
So, in case you don’t have time and want to have quick cup of coffee, then instant coffee would be your best bet.
But if you want to enjoy a fresh cup of coffee and are not in a rush, there cannot be a better substitute to a cup of nicely brewed ground coffee.
What is the Best Instant Coffee to Get Maximum Caffeine Content?
The trend of having instant coffee is on all time rise.
People prefer instant coffee because of its quick brewing time and easy preparation.
There are many pre-packaged coffee brands such as Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Costa Coffee, Black Label, and others that are available in the market.
But when it comes to brewed coffee, there is a prevalent trend that is to make the most caffeinated cup imaginable.
The coffee that most people are used to is a brewed coffee made from arabica beans.
It has a stronger flavor but a lower caffeine concentration.
Today, these caffeinated coffee brands can be found everywhere, with some even fighting for the title of “world’s strongest cup of coffee“
“.Some of the instant coffee brands with the maximum amount of caffeine content are Death Wish, Devils Brew, Nescafe 100% Brewed Arabica Coffee, etc.
Final Thoughts
As you already know that 60-100 mg of caffeine is present in one tablespoon of coffee, it is important to maintain limited coffee intake everyday.
If you want a caffeine boost that is not much stronger and with safer quantity, then I highly recommend to choose instant coffee as your regular coffee option.
It may not have as complex or rich flavors as whole bean coffee or espresso, but it is much easier to produce and has roughly 30% less caffeine.
A 12-ounce cup of instant coffee contains 96 milligrams of caffeine, which is about a fourth of your safe daily maximum.
This could be an excellent incentive to incorporate instant coffee into your everyday routine.
References:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/instant-coffee-good-or-bad#TOC_TITLE_HDR_1
https://www.nescafe.com/au/faq
https://www.quora.com/How-many-grams-of-caffeine-are-there-in-one-teaspoon-of-ground-coffee
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324986#caffeine-content-by-coffee-type
https://coffeeandteacorner.com/ground-coffee-vs-instant-coffee/