5 Drinks Packed With More Caffeine Than A Cup Of Coffee

When it comes to caffeine, coffee is king, easily out-buzzing both tea and soda. Even some of the most popular brands of energy drink, like Red Bull and Monster, can't compete with coffee in terms of caffeine per serving (which is about 95 mg per 8 oz. serving on average). In fact, if you want more caffeine than a standard cup of joe, your best bet is usually to simply go to a different type of coffee. Cold brew coffee can have more caffeine than regular coffee depending on how it's prepared, and several brands of canned coffee also amp up the caffeine levels. All this to say, for a drink to have more caffeine than coffee, its creators had to make a point of formulating it that way.

Sure enough, there are some drinks out there that have achieved the goal of having more caffeine per serving than coffee. We tried to get as eclectic of a mix as possible here, ranging from teas to energy drinks and more, as well as zeroing in on specific brands so that you know exactly what to look for if you're in the market for more caffeine. Though we feel obligated to first point out that there's a recommended maximum amount of daily caffeine (about 400 milligrams) to keep things safe and healthy. It's also important to remain aware of the warning signs that you've had too much caffeine.

Though we already mentioned how the average energy drink has less caffeine per serving than a cup of coffee, the caffeine content of energy drinks varies wildly. Which brings us to Bang Energy drinks, which clock in at 300mg of caffeine in a standard 16 oz. can. Even if you only drank half of it, that's still significantly more caffeine per 8 oz. (150mg) than coffee — but the serving size on a Bang Energy drink is the whole can, so on a per-serving level, it's not even in the same ballpark of caffeine level.

There are several different lines of Bang, some of which do have less caffeine. Bang Natural, for instance, has 250mg per 16 oz. can, which is still more than coffee even if you halved it. Interestingly, Bang even tried out a caffeine-free energy drink that came in a handful of flavors, but they have since been phased out. 

A lot of people don't know that tea leaves contain more caffeine than coffee beans, but when each is brewed, more caffeine is actually extracted from coffee beans than from tea leaves. So if you want a tea with more caffeine than coffee, it has have extra caffeine added to it — such as the HiCAF Tea line from The Republic of Tea. 

HiCAF Teas come in a variety of flavors, each with added green tea extract and extra caffeine sourced from tea leaves. The amount of caffeine varies from tea to tea, though all but the Gingermint Green have more caffeine per tea bag — which are generally recommended to be seeped with 8 oz. of water — than a cup of coffee. On the low end of the rest of the teas is the Breakfast Black at 110mg per bag, all the way up to the Toasted Coconut Black Tea Bags which pack 140mg per bag. 

While some people opt to use store-bought ingredients to give their hot cocoa a caffeine boost, there is an option to skip that extra step and have hot chocolate that's already amped up. Drippco makes a Caffeinated Hot Chocolate that contains 150mg of caffeine per single-serving pouch, which it recommends mixing with between 6 and 10 oz. of liquid. It's up to you whether you use milk or water for your cup of hot chocolate, though the Drippco website suggests a mix of 6 oz. of water and 2 oz. of milk.

As of now, Drippco is all-in on its "classic cocoa" Caffeinated Hot Chocolate and doesn't offer any other flavors. While focusing on one specific product has its benefits, there could be room to expand into a line of other variations, like milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate. Other options could include something a little more creative, like salted caramel. Some people want a cup of something hot and caffeinated in the morning other than coffee or tea, and a wider variety of flavors could offer more options.

Matcha typically has the highest caffeine content among types of tea, because it involves consuming finely ground tea leaves instead of steeping and removing them. Even so, standard matcha tea still can't match the caffeine level of a standard cup of coffee — which is where ACTA Matcha Energy Tea comes in. Promising to offer more than double the amount of natural caffeine as regular matcha, ACTA Matcha Energy Tea's website says that the product's 170 mg of caffeine per serving surpasses the caffeine of two espresso shots.

In further selling itself as a better caffeinated drink option than coffee — something that is the focus of much of the product's marketing —the company brags that ACTA Matcha Energy Tea is better for your teeth and tummy than coffee, pairs natural caffeine with L-theanine for a less jittery buzz, and gives you the option of adding the powder to your smoothie rather than only using it as a hot or cold drink. Though, for what it's worth, some people also add instant coffee to their smoothies.

Full disclosure, Zest has a whole suite of high-caffeine products that also include teas and energy drinks. But since we've already covered both of those categories, we want to highlight Zest's line of Hydration Powders, which contain an ingredient that can instantly turn a bottle of water into a drink with more caffeine than a cup of coffee. A single serving packet of Zest's Blackberry Lemonade Energy & Hydration Powder contains 250mg of natural caffeine, which it says can be added to either 16 or 32 oz. of water.

The rest of Zest's Hydration Powders focus on creatine and electrolytes rather than caffeine, making the Energy & Hydration Powder unique among the bunch. It also only comes in Blackberry Lemonade flavor, so whether you'd be interested in this product depends on how you feel about that flavor. If the flavor appeals to you, it's hard to beat the convenience of simply adding a packet to a bottle of water, shaking it, and enjoying a caffeine boost.