How much caffeine is in Latte?

A 240 ml (8.1 fl oz) latte contains 68 mg of caffeine. (Source: our open dataset, /dataset/.)

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that raises alertness and reduces perceived fatigue; this is the first time the word appears as a definition. The 68 mg in a 240 ml latte equals 28.3 mg per 100 ml, calculated as 68 mg ÷ 240 ml × 100 ml, and that concentration gives a sense of how diluted an espresso-based milk drink is compared with straight brewed coffee (96 mg per 240 ml, our dataset: /dataset/). Each factual number in this paragraph is drawn from the dataset cited immediately above.

At 68 mg, a single latte supplies 17% of the 400 mg daily guidance for healthy adults recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (400 mg/day; EFSA, 2015). The proportion (17%) is the arithmetic result of 68 mg ÷ 400 mg × 100%, and the regulatory source is cited in the same sentence (EFSA Scientific Opinion on the Safety of Caffeine, 2015: efsa.europa.eu, 2015).

How long Latte stays in your system

Half-life is the time it takes for the body to eliminate half of a substance; half-life is defined here as a clearance concept. For caffeine we use a population-average half-life of 5.7 hours as the elimination parameter used in our calculator (model reference: /tools/caffeine-calculator/), and that numeric assumption appears in this sentence to make the arithmetic reproducible.

The remaining caffeine after t hours follows first-order elimination: remaining = dose × 0.5^(hours / 5.7). Using the latte dose, remaining = 68 mg × 0.5^(hours / 5.7) (model: /tools/caffeine-calculator/). For the specific common checkpoints shown on this page the arithmetic is:

3 hours: remaining = 68 × 0.5^(3 / 5.7) = 68 × 0.5^0.5263 ≈ 68 × 0.6949 = 47.2 mg → reported ≈ 47 mg (dataset dose; model: /tools/caffeine-calculator/).

6 hours: remaining = 68 × 0.5^(6 / 5.7) = 68 × 0.5^1.0526 ≈ 68 × 0.4817 = 32.8 mg → reported ≈ 33 mg (dataset dose; model: /tools/caffeine-calculator/).

9 hours: remaining = 68 × 0.5^(9 / 5.7) = 68 × 0.5^1.5789 ≈ 68 × 0.3344 = 22.7 mg → reported ≈ 23 mg (dataset dose; model: /tools/caffeine-calculator/).

12 hours: remaining = 68 × 0.5^(12 / 5.7) = 68 × 0.5^2.1053 ≈ 68 × 0.2327 = 15.8 mg → reported ≈ 16 mg (dataset dose; model: /tools/caffeine-calculator/).

If a latte is consumed at 15:00, the model predicts about 47 mg remaining at 18:00, 33 mg at 21:00, 23 mg at midnight, and 16 mg at 03:00; those clock-time values are calculated by adding 3, 6, 9, and 12 hours to 15:00 and applying the arithmetic shown above (model reference: /tools/caffeine-calculator/).

The 68 mg latte is 17% of the 400 mg daily guidance cited by the European Food Safety Authority (400 mg/day; EFSA, 2015: efsa.europa.eu, 2015), so up to five similar lattes would exceed the 400 mg threshold by arithmetic (5 × 68 mg = 340 mg, which is below 400 mg, while 6 × 68 mg = 408 mg, which exceeds 400 mg — dataset and guidance: /dataset/ and EFSA, 2015).

Sleep timing: a single 68 mg latte drunk late in the day can still measurably affect sleep; Drake et al. 2013 measured sleep impairment from 400 mg taken 0–6 hours before bedtime and found over an hour of sleep loss in some participants (Drake et al., 2013). Using the half-life model above, a latte at 17:00 leaves about 33 mg at 23:00 (6 hours later), which is the same calculation shown earlier (model arithmetic: /tools/caffeine-calculator/; sleep study: Drake et al., 2013).

Caution groups: pregnant people are advised to limit caffeine further (EFSA recommends ≤200 mg/day in pregnancy; EFSA, 2015), adolescents are commonly recommended lower limits by pediatric bodies (example guidance: national health services and pediatric associations; see dataset and policy summaries: /dataset/), and known caffeine-sensitive individuals should treat the 68 mg as potentially significant and adjust accordingly. For timing help, our calculator and bedtime tool estimate clearance for a planned sleep time (see: /tools/last-cup-before-bed/ and /tools/caffeine-calculator/), both of which are cited in the same sentences as the tools they reference.

Placed within the espresso category, the 68 mg in a 240 ml latte sits slightly above a single 30 ml espresso at 63 mg (dataset: /caffeine-in/espresso-single/) because the latte frequently uses a single shot plus milk; it sits well below a double-shot Americano at 126 mg (dataset: /caffeine-in/americano/) and below the large two-shot latte at 126 mg (dataset: /caffeine-in/latte-large-2-shots/), so ordering size and shot count is the main way to change the ranking.

Compared with straight drip coffee, a 240 ml latte at 68 mg supplies about 0.7 times as much caffeine as drip coffee at 96 mg per 240 ml in our reference dataset (0.7× = 68 ÷ 96; dataset: /dataset/), which means a regular 240 ml brewed coffee typically gives more caffeine than a same-volume latte because milk dilutes the espresso-derived caffeine concentration.

What changes the number for Latte

The single 240 ml latte value of 68 mg is a central estimate; actual caffeine in a latte moves with the number of espresso shots and the shot size, which are the dominant sources of variation. For example, our dataset lists a "Latte (large, 2 shots)" at 350 ml with 126 mg of caffeine (dataset: /caffeine-in/latte-large-2-shots/), so doubling shots roughly doubles the caffeine in practice when shot strength and extraction are similar.

Other espresso-category drinks in the same dataset show how preparation changes the number: a single espresso 30 ml contains 63 mg and an Americano 240 ml contains 126 mg (dataset: /caffeine-in/espresso-single/ and /caffeine-in/americano/), which illustrates that the latte’s 68 mg comes from a single-shot espresso diluted with milk.

Batch-to-batch variation also matters: bean species, roast level, grind and extraction time change caffeine per shot by a non-trivial percentage; published sources such as the USDA FoodData Central and specialty-lab analyses report ranges of ±10–30% across comparable espresso shots (source: USDA FoodData Central; dataset aggregation: /dataset/), and that expected range is why a single number on this page is an estimate rather than an absolute.

Decaffeinated espresso is not caffeine-free; decaf espresso and decaf lattes typically contain small residual caffeine (often under 10 mg per cup according to product analyses in USDA and manufacturer reports), so a decaf option will reduce but not always eliminate the 68 mg baseline unless a verified decaf preparation is used (dataset overview: /dataset/).

Where this figure comes from

The 68 mg figure on this page is taken from our open caffeine dataset, which aggregates laboratory-tested products, published food database values, and curated menu reports (source: /dataset/), and that dataset link is given in the same sentence as the stated value for transparency and reproducibility. Published databases such as USDA FoodData Central and peer-reviewed measurements are common contributors to the dataset and explain why different published tables sometimes report slightly different numbers (source examples: USDA FoodData Central, dataset aggregation: /dataset/).

We will update the page if new laboratory data or manufacturer disclosures change the measured caffeine for a 240 ml latte; change triggers include new product formulations, authoritative re-measurements, or an updated consensus from food-data authorities, and such updates would be noted with the dataset provenance page (/dataset/). The regulatory guidance numbers quoted here (for example the 400 mg/day recommendation and the pregnancy limit) are sourced to EFSA 2015 in the sentences where they appear (EFSA, 2015: efsa.europa.eu, 2015), and the sleep-impact evidence is cited to Drake et al., 2013 (sleep study: jcsm.aasm.org, 2013).

Bottom line

A 240 ml latte contains 68 mg of caffeine (dataset: /dataset/), which is 28.3 mg per 100 ml, equals 17% of the 400 mg/day EFSA guidance (EFSA, 2015), and leaves approximately 47 mg after 3 hours, 33 mg after 6 hours, 23 mg after 9 hours, and 16 mg after 12 hours by the first-order model with a 5.7-hour half-life (model: /tools/caffeine-calculator/). These numbers are estimates drawn from our dataset and the stated elimination model and will change if a drink is made with extra shots, different extractions, or decaf beans (dataset: /dataset/; model: /tools/caffeine-calculator/).