Iced Coffees With The Highest Caffeine
Iced Coffee is a popular caffeinated beverage choice, especially during the hot summer months.
Among popular brands, iced coffee can vary widely caffeine wise!
This can create a lot of confusion for consumers and possibly cause withdrawal issues if they by chance switch from their usual brand.
Let’s take a look at how popular coffee shops’ iced coffee caffeine clocks in and then we can establish the most caffeinated iced coffees among these brands.
Iced Coffee Caffeine by Brand
Starbucks
Starbucks has a lot of iced coffee offerings, but their iced brewed coffee has the following caffeine amounts:
- Tall (12 fl oz): 120mg
- Grande (16 fl oz): 165mg
- Venti (24 fl oz): 235mg
- Trenta (31 fl oz): 285mg
Their highest caffeinated cold beverage is the Venti Starbucks cold brew at 330mg.
Dunkin’ Donuts
Not the famous Coolatta, but just the caffeine in Dunkin’s brewed iced coffee.
- Small (16 fl oz): 198mg
- Medium (24 fl oz): 297mg
- Large (32 fl oz): 396mg
Their large iced latte is less caffeinated at 151mg.
Peet’s Coffee
This up and coming coffee chain is winning the hearts of coffee lovers. Their iced coffee uses Peet’s fresh brewed coffee poured over 3/4 cup of ice.
- Small (12 fl oz): 113mg
- Medium (16 fl oz): 150mg
- Large (20 fl oz): 187mg
According to Peet’s customer service, this is a rough estimate since a lot of factors are involved in determining the caffeine level of their iced coffee.
McDonald’s ( McCafe)
McDonalds Iced coffee is pretty popular, which is helped by its affordable price. Here’s how its caffeine measures up.
- Small (16 fl oz): 133mg
- Medium (22 fl oz): 200mg
- Large (32 fl oz): 320mg
Caribou Coffee
Caribou is now offering cold pressed iced coffee. Here are the caffeine levels.
- Small (16 fl oz): 190mg
- Medium (20 fl oz): 230mg
- Large (24 fl oz): 270mg
Their most caffeinated iced beverage is the Large Iced Americano at 450mg!
Seattle’s Best
This Starbucks subsidiary is for those that prefer milder caffeine levels. Seattle’s Best Iced Coffee caffeine is as follows:
- Small (12 fl oz): 35mg
- Medium (16 fl oz): 45mg
- Large (24 fl oz): 55mg
- Extra Large (31 fl oz): 85mg
Seattle’s Best Iced Coffee is for certain one of the lowest caffeinated ones available.
Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons posts different amounts in Canada for their iced coffee but this is how it stacks up in their USA stores.
- Small (10 fl oz): 95mg
- Medium (14 fl oz): 125mg
- Large (20 fl oz): 205mg
In Canada, their large is only 115mg of caffeine.
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
Their customer service stressed that these are average amounts customers would expect to find in their iced coffee based on industry standards.
- Small (12 fl oz): 150mg
- Regular (16 fl oz): 200mg
- Large (24 fl oz): 300mg
The Most Caffeinated Iced Coffee
Here’s how the above brands rank according to caffeine from greatest to least by the caffeine amount in a 16 fl oz cup of iced brewed coffee.
- Dunkin Donuts – 297mg
- The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf – 200mg
- Caribou – 190mg
- Starbucks – 165mg
- Peet’s Coffee – 150mg
- Tim Hortons – 142mg
- McDonald’s – 133mg
- Seattle’s Best – 45mg
Factors Influencing the Caffeine of Iced Coffee
All of the above numbers are an estimate of the average amount one would expect to find.
Factors that determine the caffeine content of iced coffee include:
- Brew strength
- Brew length
- Amount of ice
- Addition of milk and/or other additives
- Quality of coffee used
However, consumers should be aware that some iced coffees have an alarming amount of caffeine. Some people are under the illusion that they do not. Here’s part of a recent comment left on Caffeine Informer.
“I wasn’t even that heavy of a caffeine drinker – 2 sodas + an iced coffee every day“
Depending on the brand and size, this person could have been consuming 300-500mg each day, which at the high end, is well over the safe daily limit.
Were you aware of how much caffeine is in some brands of iced coffee?
Sources: Amounts listed in our database, published on the brand’s website, and/or phone calls to the brand’s customer service.
Get Help Quitting Caffeine
Reduce your caffeine intake without pain and discomfort.
Download our FREE ebook
