​Which coffee is the best to wake up to?

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September 16, 2022

Coffee with breakfast to wake up well. For many people, a morning ritual starts the day well and fresh. But which specific coffee is best to take for the best energy boost? This question was put to barista Joke de Coninck. Her first reaction? “The effect of coffee is sometimes psychological”.

The average Dutch person drinks 2.4 cups of coffee per day and the average Belgian 2.2 cups of coffee per day. All in all, about 40 to 150 mg of caffeine per day. In comparison, a 125 ml cup of tea contains about 30 to 50 mg of caffeine, a can of Diet Coke about 35 mg of caffeine, and a can of energy drink usually about 80 mg of caffeine. But if I limit myself to coffee for breakfast, which coffee wakes you up the most with the caffeine boost?

The amount of caffeine per cup of coffee is difficult to say, explains Joke de Coninck. It depends on many factors, for example, the size of the cup or which coffee beans you use. Robusta coffee beans, mainly from Vietnam, for example, contain up to twice as much caffeine as arabica coffee beans, often from Ethiopia.

The extraction time is the most important

Extraction time is the most important factor in determining how much caffeine is ultimately in your cup. The time the coffee and hot water come into contact with each other. The shorter the extraction time, the less caffeine the coffee will contain. Whether a coffee tastes strong or weak will, therefore, in addition to the roasting and the type of coffee bean, strongly depend on the extraction time.

Espresso and ristretto . The extraction time is only 30 seconds and therefore both an espresso and a ristretto have low caffeine content. Caffeine is released quite late in the brewing process, so a ristretto contains even less caffeine than an espresso, but both have low caffeine content. A lungo, an espresso with more water, is the coffee with the lowest caffeine content. The effect that you wake up completely from espresso is therefore rather psychological.

Coffees with milk, such as a cappuccino or a latte. These coffees usually have an espresso as the basis, again with an extraction time of 30 seconds. In addition, milk is added to the coffee and thus in fact the caffeine is diluted. A cup does contain more content so that the caffeine is proportionally less present or less strong than with an espresso.

Filter coffee or regular coffee. A filter coffee that you make at home usually has an extraction time of 3 minutes. This gives a strong caffeine boost. And… the advantage is that you can easily make this coffee at home.

Cold brew. This is the coffee that contains the most caffeine and thus gives the greatest caffeine boost. The brewing time of this cold coffee is no less than twelve hours. The drink is therefore usually diluted, otherwise, the coffee is too strong and contains too much caffeine.

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