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Cold Brew vs Iced Coffee: Which Has More Caffeine?
Cold brew vs iced coffee caffeine, size by size. How much caffeine is in cold brew at Starbucks, Dunkin' and in bottles, and why the winner flips by chain.
The short answer
- A typical cold brew has about 155 mg in 10 oz (300 ml); a typical iced coffee about 120 mg in 12 oz (350 ml). Per ml, cold brew is about 50% stronger.
- At Starbucks, cold brew wins: Grande Cold Brew 205 mg vs Grande Iced Coffee 185 mg. Nitro Cold Brew is higher still at 280 mg.
- At Dunkin', iced coffee wins: Medium Iced Coffee 297 mg vs Medium Cold Brew 260 mg.
- Big iced sizes are some of the strongest drinks you can buy: a Dunkin' Large Iced Coffee has about 396 mg, nearly a full day's 400 mg limit.
Cold brew has a reputation as the strong one, and on average it deserves it. But cold brew vs iced coffee caffeine isn't a fixed contest. It depends on how much ground coffee each shop uses, how much it dilutes the concentrate, and above all how big the cup is. At one of the biggest chains, the iced coffee actually has more.
Here's how much caffeine is in cold brew and iced coffee, size by size, using the values from the Caffeine vs Water drink catalog.
What's the difference between cold brew and iced coffee?
Iced coffee is regular hot-brewed coffee, usually brewed stronger than normal, then chilled and poured over ice. The melting ice dilutes it further.
Cold brew is made by steeping coarse grounds in cold or room-temperature water for many hours, typically 12–24, then filtering. Most shops brew a concentrate with a lot of coffee per liter and then cut it with water or milk.
Cold water extracts caffeine more slowly than hot water, but it still gets there. In a lab study at Thomas Jefferson University, caffeine in cold brew reached equilibrium within 6–7 hours, and coarse-ground cold brew ended up with substantially more caffeine than hot-brewed coffee made from the same beans. The bigger driver in the real world is the recipe: cold brew is usually made with more coffee per cup.
Cold brew vs iced coffee caffeine: the generic numbers
| Drink | Size | Caffeine | mg per ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iced coffee | 12 oz / 350 ml | 120 mg | 0.34 |
| Cold brew | 10 oz / 300 ml | 155 mg | 0.52 |
| Nitro cold brew | 12 oz / 350 ml | 215 mg | 0.61 |
| Drip coffee (hot), for comparison | 8 oz / 240 ml | 95 mg | 0.40 |
Iced coffee is the most dilute of the four, thanks to the ice. Nitro cold brew is served without ice, so more of the cup is coffee, which is why it tops the list.
How much caffeine is in cold brew at Starbucks, Dunkin' and other chains?
This is where the answer flips. Every chain has its own recipe and sizes, and the numbers below are for the whole cup.
| Chain and size | Cold brew | Iced coffee |
|---|---|---|
| Starbucks Tall, 12 oz / 355 ml | 155 mg | 135 mg |
| Starbucks Grande, 16 oz / 473 ml | 205 mg | 185 mg |
| Starbucks Venti, 24 oz / 710 ml | 310 mg | 265 mg |
| Starbucks Trenta, 30 oz / 887 ml | 360 mg | 320 mg |
| Dunkin' Small, 16 oz / 473 ml | 174 mg | 198 mg |
| Dunkin' Medium, 24 oz / 710 ml | 260 mg | 297 mg |
| Dunkin' Large, 32 oz / 946 ml | 347 mg | 396 mg |
| Dutch Bros Small / Medium / Large | 151 / 226 / 301 mg | n/a |
| Costa Small / Medium | 160 / 210 mg | n/a |
| McDonald's Small / Medium / Large | n/a | 94 / 133 / 200 mg |
| Tim Hortons (Canada) Small / Medium / Large | n/a | 60 / 130 / 160 mg |
At Starbucks, cold brew beats iced coffee at every size by 20–45 mg. At Dunkin', the iced coffee is stronger at every size. McDonald's and Tim Hortons iced coffees are much milder than either. Treat all of these as estimates: when researchers bought the same brewed coffee from the same outlet on six days, caffeine ranged from 259 to 564 mg per cup. Full menus are in caffeine in Starbucks drinks and caffeine in Dunkin' coffee.
Bottled and canned cold brew
Ready-to-drink cold brews tend to be strong for their size, and many cans are small. Check the size before comparing.
| Drink | Size | Caffeine |
|---|---|---|
| Chameleon Cold Brew Black | 10 oz / 296 ml | 230 mg |
| La Colombe Cold Brew | 9 oz / 266 ml | 180 mg |
| RISE Nitro Cold Brew Black | 7 oz / 207 ml | 180 mg |
| Califia Pure Black Cold Brew | 8 oz / 237 ml | 175 mg |
| Starbucks Cold Brew can (Vanilla Sweet Cream) | 11 oz / 325 ml | 165 mg |
| Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew can | 9.6 oz / 284 ml | 155 mg |
| Dunkin' Bottled Iced Coffee, Original | 13.7 oz / 405 ml | 197 mg |
| Java Monster Cold Brew Latte | 15 oz / 444 ml | 210 mg |
A 7 oz RISE Nitro can has about the same caffeine as two 8 oz cups of drip coffee. If you're making cold brew concentrate at home, the dilution you choose matters most: a 1:1 mix with water can be twice as strong as the same glass cut 1:2. Home-made cold brew is best treated as an estimate on the high side.
Cold brew, iced coffee and your sleep
Iced drinks are easy to drink in the afternoon, and big iced sizes carry doses that take a long time to clear. With a typical 5.5-hour half-life, this is how long each takes to fall under 50 mg, the bedtime ceiling explained in when to stop drinking coffee before bed.
| Drink | Caffeine | Hours to drop under 50 mg |
|---|---|---|
| McDonald's Iced Coffee, Small | 94 mg | 5 h |
| Iced coffee, 12 oz | 120 mg | 7 h |
| Cold brew, 10 oz | 155 mg | 9 h |
| Starbucks Cold Brew, Grande | 205 mg | 11.5 h |
| Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew, Grande | 280 mg | 14 h |
| Dunkin' Iced Coffee, Medium | 297 mg | 14.5 h |
A Grande Cold Brew at 2 pm would still leave you above 50 mg at an 11 pm bedtime. Here's that drink with three different half-lives:
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.
If afternoon iced coffee is your habit, see is 2 pm too late for coffee?, or plug in your own drink and bedtime in the bedtime caffeine calculator. A 2023 meta-analysis of 24 studies found that even a standard 107 mg coffee should be finished 8.8 hours before bed to avoid losing sleep, so the big iced sizes need a much earlier cutoff.
How to get the iced coffee without the caffeine overload
- Size down. A Starbucks Tall Cold Brew (155 mg) has half the caffeine of a Venti (310 mg).
- Pick the milder chain drink. A McDonald's Small Iced Coffee is about 94 mg, less than a third of a Dunkin' Medium.
- Ask for extra ice or more milk. Less coffee in the cup means less caffeine.
- Go half-caf or decaf after lunch. A decaf iced coffee has only a few mg; half-caf roughly halves the dose.
- Pair it with water. A tall iced coffee on a hot day is still a lot of caffeine; a glass of water alongside keeps your fluids on track. In Caffeine vs Water, a strong coffee comes paired with a glass of water as a simple habit. More in should you drink water with coffee?
Frequently asked questions
Does cold brew have more caffeine than iced coffee?
Usually, yes. A typical 10 oz cold brew has about 155 mg (0.52 mg per ml) versus about 120 mg in a 12 oz iced coffee (0.34 mg per ml). But it depends on the chain: at Dunkin', a Medium Iced Coffee (297 mg) has more than a Medium Cold Brew (260 mg).
How much caffeine is in cold brew?
A typical 10 oz (300 ml) cold brew has about 155 mg. A Starbucks Grande Cold Brew has about 205 mg, a Dunkin' Medium Cold Brew about 260 mg, and canned cold brews range from about 155 mg to 230 mg.
How much caffeine is in a Starbucks Grande Cold Brew?
About 205 mg in 16 oz (473 ml). A Tall has about 155 mg, a Venti about 310 mg and a Trenta about 360 mg.
Does nitro cold brew have more caffeine than regular cold brew?
Per cup, yes, because it's served without ice. A Starbucks Grande Nitro Cold Brew has about 280 mg, compared with about 205 mg for a Grande Cold Brew.
Is cold brew bad for sleep?
Only because of the dose. A Grande Cold Brew (205 mg) takes about 11.5 hours to fall under 50 mg for a typical adult, so an afternoon one can still be active at bedtime. A smaller size, or having it earlier, makes a big difference.
Sources
- Fuller M, Rao NZ. The effect of time, roasting temperature, and grind size on caffeine and chlorogenic acid concentrations in cold brew coffee. Sci Rep, 2017.
- McCusker RR, Goldberger BA, Cone EJ. Caffeine content of specialty coffees. J Anal Toxicol, 2003.
- Gardiner C, et al. The effect of caffeine on subsequent sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev, 2023.
- U.S. FDA. Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much?
- 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.