How much caffeine is in Costa Latte (Medio)?

A Costa Latte (Medio) delivers 277 mg of caffeine in a 360 ml (12.2 fl oz) serving. That works out to 77 mg of caffeine per 100 ml, nearly double the concentration of a typical drip coffee (40 mg per 100 ml). In terms of total dose, one Medio latte is equivalent to 2.9 standard 240 ml cups of brewed coffee, each containing 96 mg of caffeine. This is not a subtle lift; it is a substantial stimulant load that will produce a pronounced increase in alertness, heart rate, and mental focus within 15 to 45 minutes of consumption.

The drink is built on espresso shots—Costa’s standard recipe for a Medio latte uses three shots of its signature Mocha Italia blend. Because the caffeine is extracted under pressure from finely ground coffee, the per-shot yield is concentrated, and the milk simply dilutes the intensity of flavour without reducing the caffeine payload. For someone accustomed to a single 240 ml mug of filter coffee, this latte will feel markedly stronger, and the subjective effects—heightened wakefulness, possible restlessness—are likely to peak around 30 to 60 minutes after the last sip and then decline gradually over many hours.

How long Costa Latte (Medio) stays in your system

Caffeine is eliminated from the body by first-order kinetics with a population-average half-life of 5.7 hours. The amount remaining in the bloodstream after a given time can be calculated as remaining = 277 × 0.5^{(hours / 5.7)}. At 3 hours post-consumption, the residual caffeine is approximately 192 mg; at 6 hours, 134 mg; at 9 hours, 93 mg; and at 12 hours, 64 mg. These figures assume a single dose with no additional caffeine intake and a typical metabolic rate; liver enzyme activity, pregnancy, and certain medications can slow or speed clearance considerably.

To make those numbers concrete, imagine drinking a Costa Latte (Medio) at 15:00. By 18:00 you still have 192 mg circulating—more than two Red Bulls’ worth of caffeine. At 21:00, 134 mg remains, which is above the caffeine content of a standard 240 ml drip coffee. By midnight, 93 mg is still active, a dose that the sleep research literature associates with measurable disruptions to deep sleep and sleep efficiency. Even at 03:00, 64 mg lingers, roughly the same as a single espresso shot. For anyone aiming to protect their sleep, this timeline makes clear that a mid-afternoon Costa Latte is not a trivial choice. Using a caffeine half-life calculator can help personalise these projections to your own typical bedtime and sensitivity.

At 277 mg, a single Costa Latte (Medio) accounts for 69% of the 400 mg daily limit that the FDA and EFSA identify as a safe intake for most healthy adults. That leaves only 123 mg—roughly one 240 ml drip coffee or a 250 ml Red Bull—before hitting the ceiling. Two Medio lattes in one day would total 554 mg, a dose that exceeds the guidance and is associated with a higher likelihood of jitteriness, anxiety, and sleep disturbance. For pregnant individuals, the EFSA recommends limiting caffeine to 200 mg per day, so this one drink already surpasses that threshold. Adolescents, who are often advised to cap intake at 100 mg per day, would be consuming nearly three times that amount with a single Medio latte.

Sleep timing is a practical concern with a dose this large. To estimate the latest time you could drink one without caffeine interfering with a 23:00 bedtime, you can use the decay model. Even 12 hours after consumption, 64 mg remains—more than a single espresso shot. To reach a residual level below 50 mg by 23:00, you would need roughly 13–14 hours of clearance, meaning the drink should be finished by 09:00–10:00. A 15:00 latte leaves 93 mg at midnight, a level shown in controlled studies to reduce total sleep time and increase nighttime arousals. Our latest cup before bedtime calculator can help you find your personal cutoff based on your usual sleep schedule and sensitivity. Individual differences in CYP1A2 enzyme activity mean some people clear caffeine twice as fast or half as fast as the average, so these timings are starting points, not guarantees.

Within the coffee-shop category, the Costa Latte (Medio) at 277 mg stands out sharply against its milk-based peers. A Starbucks Caffè Latte (Grande) contains 150 mg in a larger 473 ml cup—just 54% of the Costa dose despite being 31% larger by volume. The same pattern holds for the Starbucks Cappuccino (150 mg), Caramel Macchiato (150 mg), and Caffè Mocha (175 mg). Even the Starbucks Flat White, which uses ristretto shots and whole milk, reaches only 195 mg. In the milk-coffee landscape, the Costa Medio latte is an outlier, delivering a caffeine load more typical of a large brewed coffee than a creamy espresso drink.

When compared with straight brewed coffees, the Costa latte remains formidable. A Starbucks Pike Place Brewed (Grande) provides 310 mg in 473 ml, which is only 33 mg more than the Costa latte despite being over 100 ml larger. A Dunkin’ Original Blend (Medium) at 414 ml yields 210 mg—77 mg less. Against non-coffee benchmarks, the contrast is even starker: one Costa Medio latte contains more caffeine than three 250 ml cans of Red Bull (80 mg each) and nearly double a 473 ml can of Monster Energy (160 mg). For anyone accustomed to thinking of a latte as a milder option, these comparisons underscore that the Costa version is a high-octane choice. You can run your own head-to-head comparisons using our side-by-side drink comparison tool.

What changes the number for Costa Latte (Medio)

The 277 mg figure represents the standard Costa Medio latte as prepared in UK and European stores with the chain’s default three-shot recipe. Several factors can shift the actual caffeine content of a given cup by a meaningful margin. First, size variation: Costa offers Primo (small) and Massimo (large) sizes alongside the Medio. While the company does not publish official caffeine figures for every size, the Primo typically contains two espresso shots, which would yield roughly 185 mg of caffeine based on the same per-shot average. The Massimo, with four shots, could approach 370 mg. These are estimates derived from the standard shot count, not laboratory values, but they illustrate how the dose scales with volume.

Second, shot-to-shot variability is inherent in espresso preparation. The Mocha Italia blend combines Arabica and Robusta beans; Robusta contains about twice the caffeine of Arabica, and small variations in the blend ratio can alter the final caffeine content. Extraction time, water temperature, grind size, and tamp pressure all influence how much caffeine ends up in the cup. Independent testing of espresso shots from high-street chains has found a typical range of ±15% around the mean, so a single Medio latte could realistically contain anywhere from about 235 mg to 320 mg. Third, Costa offers a decaffeinated version of its latte. A decaf espresso shot generally contains 2–15 mg of caffeine, so a decaf Medio latte with three shots would deliver roughly 6–45 mg in total—a negligible amount for most people but still not zero.

Other factors that can move the number include the use of alternative milks (which do not affect caffeine but may alter the perception of strength) and seasonal or limited-edition blends that temporarily replace the standard Mocha Italia. Because Costa does not publish real-time batch data, the 277 mg value should be understood as a best estimate based on the chain’s standard recipe and the most consistent available third-party analyses. We update this figure whenever new verified data emerges, and you can explore the underlying sources in our open caffeine dataset.

Where this figure comes from

The 277 mg value for the Costa Latte (Medio) is drawn from the most consistent publicly available data, including nutritional information provided by Costa in certain markets and independent laboratory analyses conducted by consumer organisations. Costa does not routinely display caffeine content on its UK website or in-store menus, and figures published by different sources can vary by 10–20% due to differences in testing methodology, seasonal bean adjustments, and regional recipe tweaks. Our number represents the standard three-shot Mocha Italia recipe as verified by multiple third-party measurements. When official data is absent or conflicting, we prioritise lab-tested values over chain-reported estimates, and we document the provenance of every figure in our open caffeine dataset.

The daily intake guidance of 400 mg comes from the FDA and the EFSA Scientific Opinion on the Safety of Caffeine (2015), both of which are based on comprehensive reviews of the toxicological and epidemiological evidence. We will revise the Costa Latte figure if Costa releases official, verified caffeine data for this size and recipe, or if a new round of independent testing yields a materially different mean. Transparency about sourcing and uncertainty is what makes this page trustworthy—we would rather give you an honest range than a false precision.

Bottom line

A Costa Latte (Medio) contains 277 mg of caffeine—69% of the 400 mg daily safe limit for healthy adults and equivalent to 2.9 cups of drip coffee. The dose is delivered in 360 ml of milk and espresso, making it one of the most caffeinated milk-based drinks on the high street. After drinking one, a substantial amount of caffeine remains in the body for many hours: 192 mg at 3 hours, 134 mg at 6 hours, and 93 mg at 9 hours. This means that an afternoon latte can still be actively disrupting sleep at midnight.

For anyone tracking their caffeine intake, this drink demands attention. It leaves little room for additional caffeine that day, exceeds the daily limit for pregnancy, and is far above the typical recommendation for adolescents. If you are looking for a lower-caffeine latte, many other chains offer versions with half or even a third of this dose. The 277 mg figure is a best estimate based on the standard three-shot recipe and independent testing; actual content can vary with shot count, bean blend, and barista technique.