How Much Caffeine Is in a Serving of Espresso?

Espresso is a strong coffee beverage that is created by forcing boiling water through ground coffee, using a great deal of pressure. This results in a beverage that contains more caffeine per serving than coffees that are prepared using drip makers or percolators. A typical serving of espresso is roughly 1 ounce (29 ml) and will contain the same amount of caffeine as a 4-ounce (118-ml) serving of regularly brewed coffee. This means that the typical serving of espresso has about half the caffeine as the average 8-ounce (236-ml) serving of other types of percolated or drip-brewed coffee.

More facts about espresso:

• Luigi Bezzera is credited with inventing espresso in 1903. Bezzera wanted to develop a machine that would brew coffee much faster than the conventional means of the era. Although he created a machine and process that produced an excellent product, he lacked the funds to market the machine. Desidero Pavoni purchased the rights in 1905 and successfully launched the espresso machine in Italy and soon in other countries.


• The name for this type of coffee is derived from the Italian word for “fast.” Thus, an espresso machine is a fast machine for making concentrated coffee.


• Steamed milk is sometimes added to espresso as a means of adding another layer of flavor to the beverage. The milk must be steamed to roughly 100° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius) before it is added to the espresso.