Caffeine at Starbucks does not follow price, size or how strong a drink tastes. The two highest figures on the UK menu belong to Cold Brew Coffee at 255.8mg and Filter Coffee at 254.6mg in a Grande, and the second of those is the cheapest drink Starbucks sells at £2.75.
Every espresso based drink on the board comes in under 134mg. A Caffè Latte is 89.1mg, a Cappuccino the same, and a Flat White the same again, because all three are two shots in different quantities of milk.
- Highest 255.8mg Grande Cold Brew Coffee
- Cheapest high 254.6mg Grande Filter Coffee at £2.75
- Standard latte 89.1mg Tall and Grande alike
- Zero 7 items including three cream Frappuccinos
Starbucks UK Caffeine by Drink
| Drink | Caffeine (Grande) | Price from |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Brew Coffee | 255.8mg | £4.30 |
| Filter Coffee | 254.6mg | £2.75 |
| Cold Brew Latte | 166.5mg | Not on delivery |
| Caffè Americano | 133.7mg | £4.20 |
| Caffè Latte | 89.1mg | £4.60 |
| Iced Matcha Latte | 84.6mg | Not on delivery |
| Chai Latte | 52.4mg | Not on delivery |
| English Breakfast Tea | 1.2mg | £3.55 |
Prices and Calories at a Glance
| Item | Price | Calories | Caffeine | Sugar | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filter Coffee | £2.75 | 31 | 254.6mg | 0.4g | 1.3g |
| Caffè Americano | £4.20 | 11 | 133.7mg | 0.1g | 0.6g |
| Cold Brew Coffee | £4.30 | 22 | 255.8mg | 0.1g | 1.1g |
| Caffè Latte | £4.60 | 151 | 89.1mg | 14.2g | 10.9g |
Prices from Starbucks UK delivery partners. In store prices are usually lower and vary by location. Updated 02 June 2026.
Why Brewed Coffee Beats Espresso
An espresso shot carries roughly 75mg and a milk drink takes two of them, which caps almost the entire espresso range at around 150mg however large the cup. Brewed coffee has no such cap: it is ground coffee and water in proportion, so a bigger cup means more coffee rather than more milk.
That is why Filter Coffee at £2.75 delivers nearly three times the caffeine of a Caffè Latte at £4.60, for less than half the money. Nothing else on the menu comes close on that measure.
Cold brew reaches its 255.8mg differently, by steeping grounds in cold water for around 20 hours. The long contact time extracts more caffeine than hot brewing does while producing less acidity, which is why it tastes smoother than its figure suggests.
Where Size Does and Does Not Matter
A larger latte buys milk, not coffee. A Tall and a Grande Caffè Latte both carry 89.1mg because both are built on two shots, so the extra 119ml is dairy. The calories climb from 124 to 151 while the caffeine sits still.
An Americano behaves the opposite way, climbing from 89.1mg in a Tall to 133.7mg in a Grande, because it is shots and water and the shot count rises with the cup.
Matcha climbs steeply too, since every size takes more powder. An Iced Matcha Latte runs 56mg in a Tall, 84.6mg in a Grande and 113mg in a Venti, which puts a Venti matcha above a Grande latte.
The Drinks That Catch People Out
Matcha is the big one. It is whole leaf rather than steeped, so a Grande Iced Matcha Latte at 84.6mg sits within touching distance of a latte at 89.1mg. Anyone ordering matcha as the gentle option is going on reputation rather than numbers.
The Refreshas are the other. They are built on green coffee extract, which carries caffeine without any coffee flavour, so a Cool Lime Refresha is not the caffeine free order it looks like.
At the other end, the published tea figures are strange and worth flagging. English Breakfast Tea is listed at 1.2mg in a Grande, where a normally brewed cup would be nearer 40mg. That is the figure Starbucks publishes and this site reproduces it rather than substituting a guess, but it does not match a brewed cup.
Which Drink Gives the Most Caffeine per Pound?
Filter Coffee at £2.75 for 254.6mg is not close to being beaten. That is roughly 92mg per pound spent, against about 19mg per pound for a Caffè Latte.
The free refill policy at participating stores widens the gap further while you sit in. For caffeine alone, the cheapest drink on the menu is also the strongest one worth buying.
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