How many calories in coffee

Are you trying to eat healthily and trying to stay in shape, but wondering how coffee fits into the equation? Well, we have some good news. Coffee itself has almost zero calories and no fat content at all.

However, this applies specifically to the coffee itself - not the ingredients that are added in. When coffee is spruced up with various types of milk, syrups, and toppings, it can add a large number of additional calories.

Here, we explain how many calories coffee itself has, what factors skyrocket the calorie content and the amount of calories in some of the most popular coffee orders.

How many calories are in coffee

As explained above, the calorie content in a coffee itself is extremely low. Coffee is made from Arabica or Robusta beans that grow on coffee plants. Depending on the processing method, the beans will either be dried in the sun or passed through water channels. Neither of these methods adds any extra calories to the beans.

After beans are processed, they are roasted in a machine that uses a very high temperature, this method produces the flavour and aroma of the coffee. Again, this method doesn't add any calories to the beans.

Finally, when a coffee drink is made using just the beans and hot water (otherwise known as a long black) - no calories are added. So, the calorie content comes directly from the bean itself. A standard long black uses 7 grams of coffee beans, and on average this contains about two calories.

So, if you're coffee drink of choice is a long black, then you needn't be worried about calories - as you're only consuming 2 calories per cup. Considering the recommended average calorie intake for an adult is around 2000 a day, a single long black makes up just 1% of that.

What components add calories to a coffee

While coffee beans that are extracted with hot water create a cup of coffee with very low-calorie content, many people like to add flavours to their drink through the use of ingredients like milk, syrup, sugar and cream.

These inclusions can shoot up the calories in a drink significantly. In fact, two table spoons of chocolate syrup has around 110 calories, and there are about 95 calories 150mls of full cream milk - the amount required to make a cappucino.

When it comes to decadent drinks, like a Salted Caramel Mocha from Starbucks, the calorie content comes in at a whopping 470 calories, along with 10 grams of saturated fat, and 59 grams of added sugar.

So, as you can see, when certain ingredients are added to a coffee, it can turn the drink from an almost calorie free beverage, into a calorie laden one that takes up a large majority of your reccomended daily calorie intake, which is a huge amount if you are trying to lose weight.

Calories in a barista-made coffee vs homemade coffee

Like any food or beverage - when a coffee made at home, it's clear to see what ingredients are put into the drink, so it's easier to figure out how many calories you will be consuming. This is where it get's tricky to measure how many calories are in a barista made drink.

For example, if you're making a cappuccino at home, you'll know the ingredients you've added into the drink. One standard espresso shot has around 2 calories, 150mls of milk has around 93 calories, and one teaspoon of raw sugar has 20 calories. So, your beverage should have around 115 calories.

On the other hand, if a cappuccino is made a barista, the cup sizes may vary - meaning there could be more than 150mls of milk in the cup - raising the calorie content. And, the barista may be heavy-handed with the teaspoon, of the sugar, adding additional calories.

Calories in the most popular coffee drinks

In order to calculate exactly how many calories are in your coffee drink, you'll need to know what ingredients are in the beverage. If you know this, you can do a simple addition of the calories in each ingredient so you can figure out the total amount. Below, we run through some of the most common coffees, and their calorie content.

Latte

A latte is made from a shot of espresso and frothed milk. If one shot of espresso is used in your latte, it will be 2 calories, if you opt for a double shot, it will be four.

There should be around 170mls of steamed milk in a latte. If you're using whole milk, this will be approximately 105 calories. If you opt for skim milk, you're looking at about 62 calories and if you prefer soy milk, it will have about 92 calories. So if you're having a standard single-shot latte with no sugar, you can expect the below calorie content:

Full cream milk - 107 calories

Skim milk - 64 calories

Soy milk - 94 calories

 

Long Black

If you're trying to keep your calories down, then a long black (otherwise known as black coffee) is the best choice. This type of coffee only requires beans to be extracted in hot water, so there will be no calories in the plain coffee except for the coffee beans themselves. Of course, the calorie content will vary depending on how many shots you have - but the variation is extremely small. So, if you're having a long black coffee you can expect the below calorie content:

Single shot: 2 calories

Double shot: 4 calories

Triple shot: 6 calories

Iced Coffee

An iced coffee usually comes in the form of a latte, and generally has more milk in it than a regular latte. A standard sized iced coffee will have about 250mls of milk and usually has two shots of espresso. Of course, like a standard latte, if you switch the milk out for different variations you'll have different calorie content. So if you're having a standard double shot iced coffee with no sugar, you can expect the below calorie content:

Full cream milk: 159 calories

Skim milk: 95 calories

Soy milk: 131 calories