Weekly Bet Ya Didn't Know: Coffee, Tea, Soda, Energy Drinks...Which has the Most Caffeine?

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As a former law student, I consumed my fair share of caffeinated drinks (Although, I always stayed away from energy drinks because they scare me).  So, today, as I was thinking about all of those that are taking the bar exam next week, caffeine filled drinks came to mind.  "Is there even a lot of caffeine in coffee?" I wondered.  As always, only thoughts about pressing issues going on in this brain.  Here's what I found.

Coffee:  In my opinion, unless there's caramel or mocha in coffee, there is no point.  But I seem to be the majority, as so many people drink regular coffee constantly every day.  It looks like coffee drinkers get their fair share of caffeine, as an 8oz cup can have 25-200 milligrams of caffeine in it.  Specifically, a 16oz cup of coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts will get you about 150-200 milligrams.  It should be noted that most decaffeinated coffees still have some caffeine in them, just significantly less.   

Tea:  Black tea looks to be the winner of common teas, with about 120 milligrams of caffeine in an 8oz cup and Lipton Brisk iced tea has a much smaller amount of only 7 milligrams in a 12oz bottle.  All the rest give you approximately 25-100 milligrams of caffeine in an 8-12oz cup.  It appears you can still get your caffeine fix by drinking tea. 

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Soda/Pop:  There's nothing quite like the sound of a new can of Pepsi being opened.   Ahhh.  This was my drink of choice during the bar exam, and it seems I wasn't getting as much caffeine as I thought.  Soda comes in at the bottom with only 35-38 milligrams of caffeine per 12oz.  Barq's Rootbeer has even less with 23 milligrams and Mug Rootbeer, 7up and Sprite all have no caffeine.  Mountain Dew and Code Red have a bit more, with about 54 milligrams.  I guess that's why the boys in school all used to down "The Dew." 

Energy Drinks:  It's not the caffeine, but all that other weird stuff in energy drinks that makes me nervous.  People drink them everyday and they're still alive, so maybe they're OK.  Caffeine wise, there is about 150 milligrams in 16oz energy drinks like Monster and full Throttle.  An 8.3oz Red Bull has 76. 

Coffee and Energy Drinks seem to be the winners...or losers depending on your view.

Sources: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/AN01211, http://www.talkaboutcoffee.com/how_much_is_too_much2.html