Lab tests find decaf coffee has 0 to 15 mg of caffeine per 8 oz cup, compared with about 75 to 165 mg in regular coffee.
Decaf coffee still has caffeine — lab tests find 0 to 15 mg per 8 oz cup, versus about 75 to 165 mg in a regular cup. See all 23 sourced figures, sortable.
Decaf coffee is not caffeine-free. Lab tests across brands and studies put it at 0 to 15 mg per 8 oz cup, against roughly 75 to 165 mg in a regular brewed cup — a fraction most people won’t notice, though a few sensitive drinkers might. The table below holds all 23 measured figures, decaffeination methods, and regulatory thresholds sourced directly, next to regular coffee and other caffeinated drinks for scale.
Sort and compare. Click any column to sort the full set, or filter down to just decaf coffee, regular coffee, other drinks, decaffeination methods, or regulatory thresholds.
Caffeine Per 8 Oz Cup: Decaf Vs Regular Coffee
| Category | Item / Brand | Serving Size as Reported | Caffeine Value as Reported | Normalized to 8 oz (mg; ~ = calculated) | Decaffeination Method | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| measured - decaf coffee | Decaf brewed coffee, 10 unnamed US outlets (Phase 1) | 16 fl oz | 0-13.9 mg | ~0-7.0 mg | not reported | McCusker et al. 2006, J Anal Toxicol |
| measured - decaf coffee | Decaf brewed coffee, multiple US retailers | 16 fl oz | <18 mg (upper bound reported) | ~<9.0 mg | not reported | McCusker & Goldberger 2003 (UF Health press release) |
| measured - decaf coffee | Starbucks decaf brewed, same outlet, n=6 (Phase 2) | 16 fl oz | 12.0-13.4 mg | ~6.0-6.7 mg | not reported | McCusker et al. 2006, J Anal Toxicol |
| measured - decaf coffee | Starbucks decaf espresso, same outlet, n=6 (Phase 2) | 1 shot (~1 fl oz) | 3.0-15.8 mg | not applicable -- espresso shot; adding water to reach 8 oz would not remove the mg of caffeine already extracted | not reported | McCusker et al. 2006, J Anal Toxicol |
| measured - decaf coffee | Starbucks decaf brewed, Tall (company nutrition data) | 12 fl oz | 20 mg | ~13.3 mg | not disclosed by Starbucks | Starbucks nutrition info, via Tasting Table 2025 |
| measured - decaf coffee | Decaf coffee, general range | 8 fl oz | 2-15 mg | 2-15 mg (already 8 oz) | mixed/unspecified | FDA, "Spilling the Beans" consumer update |
| measured - decaf coffee | Instant decaf coffee, powder | 1 tsp rounded (prepared, ~8 fl oz cup) | 2 mg | ~2 mg | mixed/unspecified | USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Legacy (2018) |
| measured - regular coffee (comparison) | Regular brewed coffee, general range | 12 fl oz | 113-247 mg | ~75.3-164.7 mg | n/a | FDA, "Spilling the Beans" consumer update |
| measured - regular coffee (comparison) | Starbucks Breakfast Blend, single-day purchase | 16 fl oz | 259 mg | ~129.5 mg | n/a | McCusker & Goldberger 2003 (UF Health press release) |
| measured - regular coffee (comparison) | Starbucks Breakfast Blend, 6-day same-store variability | 16 fl oz | 259-564 mg | ~129.5-282.0 mg | n/a | McCusker & Goldberger 2003 (UF Health press release) |
| measured - regular coffee (comparison) | Dunkin' Donuts regular brewed | 16 fl oz | 143 mg | ~71.5 mg | n/a | McCusker & Goldberger 2003 (UF Health press release) |
| measured - regular coffee (comparison) | Regular espresso, various shops | 40-170 mL (~1.4-5.7 fl oz) | 58-185 mg | not applicable -- espresso shot, not diluted to 8 oz | n/a | McCusker & Goldberger 2003 (UF Health press release) |
| measured - other caffeinated drink | Black tea | 12 fl oz | 71 mg | ~47.3 mg | n/a | FDA, "Spilling the Beans" consumer update |
| measured - other caffeinated drink | Green tea | 12 fl oz | 37 mg | ~24.7 mg | n/a | FDA, "Spilling the Beans" consumer update |
| measured - other caffeinated drink | Caffeinated soft drink | 12 fl oz | 23-83 mg | ~15.3-55.3 mg | n/a | FDA, "Spilling the Beans" consumer update |
| measured - other caffeinated drink | Energy drink | 16 fl oz | 54-328 mg | ~27.0-164.0 mg | n/a | FDA, "Spilling the Beans" consumer update |
| decaffeination method - % caffeine removed | Water process (e.g. Swiss Water-style) | n/a | 94-96% of green-bean caffeine removed | n/a (process spec, not a beverage serving) | Water process | Scientific American, "How is caffeine removed to produce decaffeinated coffee?" |
| decaffeination method - % caffeine removed | Direct solvent (methylene chloride or ethyl acetate) | n/a | 96-97% of green-bean caffeine removed | n/a (process spec, not a beverage serving) | Direct solvent | Scientific American, "How is caffeine removed to produce decaffeinated coffee?" |
| decaffeination method - % caffeine removed | Supercritical CO2 | n/a | 96-98% of green-bean caffeine removed | n/a (process spec, not a beverage serving) | Supercritical CO2 | Scientific American, "How is caffeine removed to produce decaffeinated coffee?" |
| regulatory threshold | US -- widely cited industry figure for what counts as "decaffeinated" | n/a | >=97% of caffeine removed from the green bean; this exact percentage was NOT found codified as a numeric standard-of-identity in 21 CFR itself -- it's a repeated industry/consumer-media figure | n/a | n/a | Consumer Reports; Registrar Corp FDA caffeine-labeling guide |
| regulatory threshold | EU -- Directive 1999/4/EC, Article 2(b) | n/a | anhydrous caffeine content must not exceed 0.3% by weight of the coffee-based dry matter to use the label "decaffeinated" (a residual-content ceiling, not a %-removed figure like the US industry standard) | n/a | n/a | EUR-Lex, Directive 1999/4/EC |
| regulatory threshold | US -- 21 CFR 173.255 | n/a | methylene chloride solvent residue in decaffeinated roasted or instant coffee capped at 10 ppm (0.001%) | n/a | n/a | 21 CFR 173.255, via Cornell Law (LII) / eCFR |
| regulatory threshold | EU -- methylene chloride residue limit | n/a | capped at 2 ppm (0.0002%) | n/a | n/a | Center for Environmental Health, "The Deets on Decaf" (secondary summary of EU limit; EU primary text not independently fetched) |
Method: ran 10+ web searches covering the McCusker/Goldberger/Cone 2006 study directly, the Starbucks espresso follow-up detail, FDA decaf labeling threshold, EU decaf labeling threshold, Swiss Water/CO2/solvent removal percentages, USDA caffeine tables, National Coffee Association citations for the 97% figure, recent (2020s) HPLC brand-comparison studies, and the FDA 'Spilling the Beans' consumer figures. Fetched every URL used as a source directly; two sites (fda.gov, registrarcorp.com) blocked the direct fetch client (404/403) and were retrieved instead via the r.jina.ai reader proxy. ecfr.gov redirected to an unblock/CAPTCHA host so 21 CFR 173.255 was sourced from Cornell Law's LII mirror instead. All 16-oz-serving figures were halved to estimate an 8-oz value; all 12-oz FDA figures were multiplied by 8/12 and the 16-oz energy-drink figure by 8/16 -- every normalized cell is marked with a leading ~. Espresso-shot figures were left as-measured since caffeine mass doesn't change with dilution.
Gaps: the 2006 study's Phase 1 tested 10 different outlets but only the abstract (via PubMed/Oxford) was accessible, so individual brand names beyond Starbucks couldn't be confirmed. No large-scale, independently sourced, serving-size-disclosed decaf caffeine comparison was found for other major chains (Dunkin', McCafe, Tim Hortons, Caribou) -- Caffeine Informer lists brand ranges but without a stated serving size, so those figures were excluded rather than guessed. No peer-reviewed, independently measured figure was found for the Swiss Water Process's specific 99.9% removal claim, which appears only on Swiss Water's own site, so the dataset instead uses Scientific American's method-class range (94-96%). No post-2006 large-sample independent lab re-test of retail decaf coffee was found, so the newest brand-level figure in this dataset is Starbucks' own 2025-referenced menu data, not an independent lab result. The EU methylene-chloride residue limit (2 ppm) is sourced from a secondary summary (Center for Environmental Health); the specific EU regulatory text setting that number was not independently fetched.
Sources
- Caffeine content of decaffeinated coffee (PubMed abstract)McCusker, Fuehrlein, Goldberger, Gold & Cone (2006), J Anal Toxicol 30(8):611-3. Gives Phase 1 (10 outlets, 0-13.9 mg/16-oz) and Phase 2 Starbucks (espresso 3.0-15.8 mg/shot; brewed 12.0-13.4 mg/16-oz) figures used in this dataset.
- Caffeine Content of Decaffeinated CoffeePublisher page for the same 2006 study; confirms abstract text and metadata. Full text behind paywall.
- UF study finds specialty coffee's caffeine content capriciousSource for the 2003 Starbucks (259 mg single-purchase; 259-564 mg across 6 days), Dunkin' Donuts (143 mg), regular espresso (58-185 mg per 40-170 mL shot), and the '<18 mg/16 oz' decaf upper bound.
- Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much?Source of regular coffee, decaf coffee, black tea, green tea, soft drink, and energy drink figures. Direct fetch returned HTTP 404; retrieved via the r.jina.ai reader proxy.
- USDA National Nutrient Database — Caffeine (Abridged List Ordered by Nutrient Content)SR Legacy 2018 data. Source of the instant decaffeinated coffee powder figure: 2 mg per 1 tsp rounded.
- Directive 1999/4/EC relating to coffee extracts and chicory extractsArticle 2(b): 'decaffeinated' may be used only where anhydrous caffeine content does not exceed 0.3% by weight of the coffee-based dry matter.
- 21 CFR 173.255 — Methylene chlorideFetched after ecfr.gov and accessdata.fda.gov both failed. Caps methylene chloride residue in decaffeinated coffee at 10 ppm (0.001%).
- How is caffeine removed to produce decaffeinated coffee?Source of the per-method removal ranges: water process 94-96%, direct solvent 96-97%, supercritical CO2 96-98%.
- Is Decaffeinated Coffee Bad for You?Corroborates the ~97% FDA-adjacent removal figure, the 3-12 mg/cup practical range, and the 10 ppm methylene chloride limit.
- The Deets on DecafSource of the EU methylene chloride residue limit (2 ppm); EU primary regulatory text for that figure was not independently located.
- Guide To FDA Caffeine Labeling RegulationsStates the widely cited 97% figure functions as an industry standard, not a codified numeric standard-of-identity. Direct fetch returned HTTP 403; retrieved via r.jina.ai proxy.
- How Much Caffeine Is In A Tall Starbucks Decaf Coffee?Cites Starbucks' own posted nutrition information: Tall (12 fl oz) decaf Pike Place brewed coffee = 20 mg.
- Caffeine in Starbucks Decaf CoffeeCorroborates the Starbucks-published 20 mg/Tall figure; used only as corroboration, not as the primary citation.
- How Much Caffeine Is in Decaf?Fetched for cross-checking only; its per-brand table did not disclose consistent serving sizes so it was not used as a row source.