Coffee chains
How Much Caffeine Is in Tim Hortons Coffee? Every Size, Plus Tea and Iced Capp
Tim Hortons caffeine by size: a medium Original Blend has about 205 mg, an XL 330 mg, an XL steeped tea 210 mg. Full tables and Health Canada's limit.
The short answer
- A medium Tim Hortons Original Blend has about 205 mg of caffeine. Small 140 mg, large 270 mg, extra large 330 mg.
- Dark Roast has slightly less: 195 mg in a medium.
- Steeped tea is surprisingly strong: 125 mg in a medium and 210 mg in an XL, more than a medium coffee.
- A medium Iced Capp has about 140 mg, a medium French Vanilla 80 mg and a medium decaf 9 mg.
For a lot of Canadians, "a double-double" is the unit of coffee. But Tim Hortons caffeine varies more than the ritual suggests. A medium Original Blend has about 205 mg of caffeine, a small French Vanilla about 60 mg, and an extra-large steeped tea about 210 mg. Which one you order changes your day's total by more than a coffee's worth.
Below is how much caffeine is in Tim Hortons coffee, tea and iced drinks by size, using the same values as the Caffeine vs Water drink catalog. The brewed coffee figures most sources use trace back to caffeine data Tim Hortons published in 2008. Treat them as solid estimates, not measurements of your cup.
Tim Hortons coffee caffeine by size
| Drink | Small ~10 oz / 286 ml | Medium ~14 oz / 425 ml | Large ~19 oz / 563 ml | XL ~23 oz / 678 ml |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Blend | 140 mg | 205 mg | 270 mg | 330 mg |
| Dark Roast | 130 mg | 195 mg | 260 mg | 315 mg |
| Decaf | 6 mg | 9 mg | 12 mg |
A double-double has exactly the same caffeine as a black coffee of the same size: cream and sugar add calories, not caffeine. Dark Roast has a little less than Original Blend, because darker-roasted beans are less dense, so the same scoop holds slightly less coffee.
How Tim Hortons compares with Dunkin' and Starbucks
| Medium brewed coffee | Size | Caffeine |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Hortons Original Blend, Medium | 14 oz | 205 mg |
| Dunkin' Hot Coffee, Medium | 14 oz | 210 mg |
| Starbucks Pike Place, Tall | 12 oz | 235 mg |
| Starbucks Pike Place, Grande | 16 oz | 310 mg |
Tim Hortons and Dunkin' are almost identical size for size. Starbucks brews stronger: its 12 oz Tall has more caffeine than a Tims 14 oz medium. Full breakdowns are in Dunkin' caffeine by size and Starbucks caffeine by drink and size. For the UK, see Costa Coffee caffeine by size.
Tim Hortons steeped tea caffeine
| Size | Volume | Caffeine |
|---|---|---|
| Small | ~10 oz / 286 ml | 90 mg |
| Medium | ~14 oz / 425 ml | 125 mg |
| Large | ~19 oz / 563 ml | 175 mg |
| Extra large | ~23 oz / 678 ml | 210 mg |
Tims steeped tea is brewed strong, so it has far more caffeine than a tea bag in a mug at home (about 47 mg per 8 oz). An XL steeped tea has slightly more caffeine than a medium Original Blend coffee. If you switched to tea to cut back, the size matters more than the leaf. More on this in caffeine in tea.
Iced Capp, iced coffee and specialty drinks
| Drink | Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iced Capp | 110 mg | 140 mg | 170 mg |
| Iced Coffee (Canada) | 60 mg | 130 mg | 160 mg |
| French Vanilla | 60 mg | 80 mg | 110 mg |
| Americano (U.S.) | 95 mg | 140 mg | 170 mg |
| Espresso shot (U.S.) | 45 mg | ||
The Iced Capp is often treated as a treat rather than a coffee, but a medium has about 140 mg, more than a small Original Blend. French Vanilla is made from a sweet powdered mix that contains a little coffee, so it's one of the milder caffeinated drinks on the menu. Tim Hortons iced coffee is also much lighter than Dunkin's, where a medium iced has about 297 mg.
Recipes and sizes differ between Canada and the U.S., so the espresso and Americano values above are U.S. figures. A Tim Hortons espresso shot, at about 45 mg, is one of the lightest among the big chains.
The strongest and weakest Tim Hortons orders
| Most caffeine | Caffeine | Least caffeine | Caffeine |
|---|---|---|---|
| XL Original Blend | 330 mg | Small decaf | 6 mg |
| XL Dark Roast | 315 mg | Medium decaf | 9 mg |
| Large Original Blend | 270 mg | Small French Vanilla | 60 mg |
| XL steeped tea | 210 mg | Small iced coffee | 60 mg |
| Medium Original Blend | 205 mg | Medium French Vanilla | 80 mg |
When to have your last Tims of the day
With a typical 5.5-hour half-life, a medium Original Blend (205 mg) takes about 11.5 hours to drop below 50 mg, the level most sleep research treats as low enough not to matter. A large (270 mg) takes about 13.5 hours and an XL (330 mg) about 15.5 hours. A 2023 meta-analysis of 24 studies recommended stopping a regular coffee at least 8.8 hours before bed.
Show as a table
| Half-life | 1 h | 3 h | 6 h | 9 h | 12 h | 24 h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 h | 177 | 127 | 76 | 45 | 27 | 3 |
| 5.5 h | 183 | 145 | 99 | 68 | 47 | 10 |
| 7.5 h | 188 | 159 | 120 | 91 | 69 | 23 |
mg of active caffeine, hours after one 205 mg drink.
So a medium on the drive home at 4 pm still leaves about 90 mg at 11 pm for a typical adult; a medium decaf leaves almost nothing. Try your own order in the caffeine bedtime calculator, or see the full cutoff table in when to stop drinking coffee before bed.
In Caffeine vs Water, a medium Tims is already in the catalog, so the app can show how much room you have left before bed ("You can still have ~60 mg") and when your next one would still leave you under target.
Frequently asked questions
How much caffeine is in a medium Tim Hortons coffee?
A medium Original Blend has about 205 mg of caffeine. A medium Dark Roast has about 195 mg and a medium decaf about 9 mg.
How much caffeine is in a Tim Hortons extra large coffee?
About 330 mg for an XL Original Blend and 315 mg for an XL Dark Roast. That's most of Health Canada's 400 mg daily limit for adults in one cup.
Does a double-double have more caffeine?
No. A double-double is regular coffee with two creams and two sugars, so it has the same caffeine as a black coffee of the same size: about 205 mg for a medium.
How much caffeine is in Tim Hortons steeped tea?
About 90 mg in a small, 125 mg in a medium, 175 mg in a large and 210 mg in an extra large. An XL steeped tea has slightly more caffeine than a medium coffee.
Does an Iced Capp have caffeine?
Yes. A small Iced Capp has about 110 mg, a medium about 140 mg and a large about 170 mg.
Sources
- Health Canada. Caffeine in Foods (400 mg a day for adults, 300 mg if pregnant or breastfeeding).
- Caffeine Informer. Caffeine in Tim Hortons brewed coffee (from Tim Hortons' 2008 published caffeine data).
- Gardiner C, et al. The effect of caffeine on subsequent sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev, 2023.
- Mayo Clinic. Caffeine content for coffee, tea, soda and more.
- Brand nutrition pages and caffeine databases, as compiled for the Caffeine vs Water drink catalog (September 2026).
General wellness information, not medical advice. If you're pregnant, have a heart condition, or take medication that affects caffeine, check your limits with a doctor.