Caffeine Champion: Coffee Vs. Latte
A lot of us savor over the thought of drinking that cup of coffee in the morning to kick start our day, surrounded by the aroma and warmth of that first drink, reminding us of that exhale of comfort, similar to laying down in a jacuzzi at first touch, warm but soothing to the soul. Some drink lattes or swift shots of espresso with the intentions of jacking our brain cells and energy levels to kick us into action as we prepare for our day, ignoring the unavoidable bitter and sometimes enjoyable taste of deep, refined and dark coffee roasted beans.
Now, some say coffee has the most caffeine, others argue that espresso, in a latte, proportionate in size has the more heavily dense and concentrated caffeine, the taste says it all! Well, we are here to find out who reigns champion, Coffee Vs. Latte, condensed espresso vs refined, course light beans.
Coffee, in its simplicity, is water. Hot water filters through coffee grinds, course or fine as preference. When the hot water filters through, it is able to grab all the oil with it, in which is dark in color. The oil is what we call coffee. The oil from coffee beans contains caffeine, varying in strength. The lighter the roast, more caffeine, the darker the roast, the less amount of caffeine. Reasoning behind this is that the darker the roast, the more the bean is cooked, and when something is cooked longer, or darker in this case, the more the moisture evaporates and is removed from the bean, meaning there is less caffeine or oil present. Once the hot water filters through the beans, we are left with a final product of coffee. Very simple. We can say now that light roasted beans have the most caffeine, as compared to dark which has less. If you are still confused, read this next paragraph for further explanation. If you got it, jolly! Skip the next paragraph!
So, we shall continue. Now, if you are still questioning, "So, how does this dark and light thing work? It doesn't make sense! Dark tastes so much stronger, I feel so alert!!". Now, it is false to say dark has NO caffeine, just a lot less. Some say that the bitter taste of dark plays a placebo on the mind in terms of alertness and caffeine content. But let me give you an example. Eggs. When they are cooked, to the prime, light method of sunny side up, you are left with an abundantly nutritional meal, simple and sustainable in terms of taste. Now say we burn the
eggs, we are left with a black form that has little nutritional value, and the darkest and bitterest of taste. I hope you got it now! :)
OK. Lattes are the most delicious form of caffeine packed beverage. Lattes, in their most blandest understanding, is Espresso (condensed dark coffee) mixed in with milk, which can vary in fat content. The fatter the milk, the more smooth and silky the latte will taste. Now, don't go drinking half/half latte's (I'm looking at you Keto dietors). One could say that due to the Espresso content in the Latte's, Latte's are more caffeine packed which is true in one form.
Source: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/caffeine/art-20049372
Now, which one wins? Which has more caffeine? And the answer is, it depends. Yes, it depends what you are drinking and how your drink was made. It depends on the ratio of your coffee-to-water, as well as the amount espresso-to-water. We could say that, with a standard of 16oz latte which traditionally contains 2 shots of espresso, and a 16oz coffee with a standard ratio of 1.5 cups of water for each tablespoon of coffee, it is said that the cup of coffee contains more caffeine. Yes, in proportional industry standards of brew ratio and espresso content, a cup ofcoffee has more caffeine.
