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As the question asks, which method from the list below will give the most caffeine in the final product (ie. a cup of coffee). Assume the same beans with the same grind (while the different techniques should use different grinds, lets try and keep things simple) and as much as possible assume things are kept constant - Aiming for a 200ml cup of coffee made from (if appropriate) a double shot of espresso, the rest made up by water. :

  1. Professional Espresso maker (i.e. in a coffee shop)
  2. Aeropress
  3. Stovetop espresso maker
  4. French Press
  5. Consumer grade capsule coffee machine (e.g. nespresso). Once again assume that we can find the same bean in a bought capsule.
Aaronut
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NBenatar
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    You can control the time for some of these, and not for the others, so I don't see how you can compare. – rumtscho Mar 31 '14 at 19:15
  • I suppose an assumption or simplification would be required. E.g. Time limit of 3 minutes brew time. – NBenatar Mar 31 '14 at 19:42
  • @rumtscho Or that's part of the comparison - if a given method doesn't let you increase the time enough to get more caffeine, then it's not a good method for the OP's goals? – Cascabel Mar 31 '14 at 19:55
  • Is this question significantly different from [How can I maximize the caffeine content of my coffee?](http://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/9573) – Aaronut Mar 31 '14 at 23:35
  • @Aaronut The other question focused on things besides type of coffee maker, and the answers followed suit. I'm not sure I see something there that deals with how these methods would differ. – Cascabel Apr 01 '14 at 00:07
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    Maximum caffeine consumption is achieved by eating the beans. Maximum flavor is achieved by chocolate coating. – SAJ14SAJ Apr 01 '14 at 13:14
  • @Jefromi I very glad that the OP tried to constrain the criteria in order to get good, comparable answers instead of throwing a too broad question into the round. Now I look at my comment again, I think my main concern is that the situation is so complex that using these criteria still doesn't guarantee numbers which are both invariant enough for comparison (as opposed to "depends how long you brew") and pertinent for a decision (as opposed to "if you brew each for exactly 1 min, X is best, but nobody uses 1 min with Y"). I hope there will be good answers nonetheless. – rumtscho Apr 01 '14 at 15:39
  • The only method that is really time dependent is the french press (and possibly the aeropress depending on the exact technique used), everything else is a task that has a fixed end point, so maybe if the french press is eliminated it would make it easier? – NBenatar Apr 01 '14 at 17:38
  • Caffeine is extracted early in the brewing process, so longer brewing has little effect on caffeine content... especially if you standardized to a fine or medium-fine grind. – Didgeridrew Apr 01 '14 at 19:14
  • Are you no longer satisfied with your answer to the question which Aaronut links? – Peter Taylor Apr 02 '14 at 09:09
  • possible duplicate of [How can I maximize the caffeine content of my coffee?](http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/9573/how-can-i-maximize-the-caffeine-content-of-my-coffee) – SAJ14SAJ Apr 04 '14 at 15:41
  • I do not believe its a duplicate question, that question focusses on maximising caffine by changing lots of things, bean, grind amongst others, while this question is trying to keep as much constant and observing its effect. – NBenatar Apr 07 '14 at 18:22
  • This question appears to be off-topic because it's about pharmacology; is answered in a analytic chemistry lab, not a kitchen; and doesn't appear to have any application to cooking. There is a http://chemistry.stackexchange.com; not sure if they can help. – derobert Apr 10 '14 at 17:17

1 Answers1

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This question is nearly unanswerable. Typical caffeine content data is given as a range based on the normal brewing factors of each method, there isn't data for abnormal methods i.e. french press with fine grind or espresso with coarse grind.

Typical caffeine contents:

  • 3oz Espresso double shot: 70-200mg
  • 8oz drip: 60-100mg
  • 6oz French Press: 80-100mg
  • 6oz Aeropress: 60-80mg

On average the espresso or moka pot coffee would have significantly higher caffeine concentration than other methods (with the moka pot maybe edging out the espresso because it uses higher temperature for extraction). There is so much variability that I don't know if there's any point in trying to answer this question. The article linked below shows that one method alone (espresso) can yield shots with caffeine concentrations that are radically different:

The extended range of caffeine values found in retail coffees in this study suggests that it is presently not possible for individuals interested in assessing the caffeine content of their diet to do so if the intake includes retail coffee. Our data highlights that, if just two retail coffees are consumed in a day by the same individual, that a variance of more than 290 mg can occur if both of these espressos are purchased from either the highest or lowest 10th percentiles of all the beverages sampled

If you control for volume by diluting everything with a typical serving size less than 200mL, all the methods are going to yield caffeine doses in the range of 60-100mg. A typical espresso based Americano (1 shot + water to make 5oz) would also fall in that range.

http://www.aseanfood.info/Articles/11020406.pdf

Didgeridrew
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