Do Pour-overs Contain More Caffeine?

“I’m not sure what’s in this coffee, but it gets me wired!” 

When I worked as a barista our café was a few doors down from a sports radio station. The DJs came into the café frequently throughout the day and I was pleasantly surprised to learn they often mentioned us on air. They also seemed to think our coffee contained more caffeine than normal. 

The stimulating effect of coffee motivates many people to drink it every day. As Michael Pollan observes in his book This is Your Mind on Plants, caffeine is the most widely consumed stimulant in the world. 

Many people drink pour-over coffee because they find that pour-over drippers like the Etkin Dripper offer sweeter, more complex cups with less bitterness.  But what about caffeine content? Can a pour-over also give you an extra boost?   

What is Caffeine? 

Caffeine is a stimulant that’s found in plants like coffee and tea. For the plant, caffeine acts as a sort of natural pesticide, protecting it from insects and small animals. Ironically, for humans, the mild buzz that caffeine provides incentivizes the consumption of coffee. 

In humans, caffeine blocks adenosine receptors. Adenosine is an organic compound that promotes sleep, so by blocking adenosine receptors, the caffeine in coffee can provide a feeling of wakefulness.

In large doses, caffeine can also cause health issues like jitteriness and anxiety. Most doctors recommend keeping your caffeine intake to less than 400 mg a day, i.e. less than five cups of coffee. 

Caffeine Content 

Caffeine content in coffee is difficult to measure and fluctuates based on the species and variety. Robusta, also known as coffea canephora, is a species of coffee that has almost double the caffeine of Arabica. Caffeine tastes bitter, and the increased caffeine content in c. canephora is one of the things that gives it its “robust” flavor. 

But the variety, or cultivar, is also important.  Laurina, for example, is a variety of coffea arabica that has much lower levels of caffeine than other Arabica varieties. In other words, when it comes to the caffeine content in coffee, your mileage may vary. 

According to the USDA, an eight-ounce cup of coffee contains on average 95 mg of caffeine, which is a pretty good reference point. Personally, I try to limit my caffeine intake to three cups of coffee a day. 

What about pour-overs?

Pour-over coffee is a brew method that uses percolation to extract the soluble compounds in ground coffee. Caffeine dissolves easily in water, especially at high temperatures. So whether you’re making a French press, a pour-over, or autodrip, the caffeine content depends mostly on the dose of coffee. The more coffee, the more caffeine.

Although pour-over coffee might offer you more sweetness and clarity when compared to other brew methods, it's unlikely to affect the caffeine content of your daily cup. 

Mindful Consumption

Although most of us love that caffeinated kick coffee gives us in the morning, it’s probably wise to be conscious of your caffeine consumption. Thankfully, there’s never been more decaffeinated specialty coffee to choose from, like our friends at Talking Crow Coffee, a decaf-only roaster and an authorized Etkin reseller.