In Part I of this bodybuilding supplements article we discussed the facts on caffeine and started our discussion on why caffeine and coffee are not one and the same. In this part of the article we finish our discussion and we talk about energy drinks as well as cheap ways to consume caffeine.

Caffeine Content of Coffee

As the previous section outlines, if you want to enjoy your cup of coffee because it tastes good, and gives you a coffee buzz – that’s likely due to a variety of naturally occurring compounds in the coffee in addition to the caffeine – go for it.

I won’t be giving up my mug of strong morning coffee either. However, if you are looking specifically to get the known effects of caffeine on performance, increased alertness, etc., use straight caffeine.

Even if you are attempting to drink coffee for its caffeine content, that’s a hit or miss strategy. Researchers visited a variety of specialty coffee store for 6 consecutive days and tested a wide range of coffees and found the caffeine content varied considerably (3). According to these researchers:

“There was a wide range in caffeine content present in caffeinated coffees ranging from 58 to 259 mg/dose. The mean (SD) caffeine content of the brewed specialty coffees was 188 (36) mg for a 16-oz cup. Another notable find is the wide range of caffeine concentrations (259-564 mg/dose) in the same coffee beverage obtained from the same outlet on six consecutive days.”

So the same cup of coffee purchased from the same vendor (Starbucks) over six consecutive days ranged from 259 to 564 mg of caffeine!!!

That’s like power gulping 3.2 to just over 7 small cans of Red Bull®—over 15-30 minutes (see below). If you want to try and experiment to confirm what the earlier mentioned study found regarding the different effects coffee has from straight caffeine, try 600mg of pure caffeine some time. Your head may explode, but you will never doubt again what an equal amount of caffeine feels like that can be found in a really strong cup of coffee.

So What About the Energy Drinks?

The “energy drink” category is all the rage these days, and cans of Red Bull and others of the ilk fly off the shelves. This has proven to be a very profitable market segment for sellers of these products. There’s nothing inherently problematic with them, but to get your 80mg of caffeine (the dose listed for Red Bull for example) you have to ingest additional stuff you may not want, be it sugar, various synthetic sweeteners, etc. and you are paying an exorbitant amount per serving compared to what you get from them. Bang for the buck, these products are generally a poor deal in my view.

The same researchers who measured the caffeine content in coffees did a separate study and examined the caffeine content of a variety of sodas and energy drinks. Sodas such as Coke Classic had similar caffeine content to those energy drinks at the lower end of their caffeine content, such as KMX, which had 33.3mg of caffeine to Coke Classic’s 29.5mg but the caffeine content could vary. Interestingly, they found just 67mg of caffeine in a small can of Red Bull, a drop from the 80mg that is claimed to be inside (4) They summarize their findings:

“The caffeine content of 10 energy drinks, 19 carbonated sodas, and 7 other beverages was determined. In addition, the variability of the caffeine content of Coca-Cola fountain soda was evaluated…The caffeine concentration of the caffeinated energy drinks ranged from none detected to 141.1 mg/serving. The caffeine content of the carbonated sodas ranged from none detected to 48.2 mg/serving, and the content of the other beverages ranged from
Take home is, I don’t have any beef per se with the energy drink/shot category of products, but I also don’t see them as a value for the money spent considering what you get, and I don’t like the taste of most of them (which admittedly is a subjective experience) and for me, they don’t make sense to spend money on.