Calories in coffee. Everything you have to know
Have you ever wondered how many calories a cup of coffee has? I had this question a while ago and decided to do some deep research. Now I will share it with you.
The first aspect we have to bare in mind is that black coffee and coffee with other ingredients (milk, sugar, cream, etc.) are incredibly different in terms of calories. The second ones can have more than 15 times more calories than black coffee!
In this article we will learn the differences in calories between black coffee and other types of coffee, which ingredients are the worst in terms of calories and how to have less calories in your cup of coffee.
Article index:
Black coffee vs other types of coffee: the huge difference
Calories in black coffee
Calories adders
Calories in other types of coffee
Some comparisons
How to take off calories from coffee
Black coffee vs other types of coffee: the huge difference
Believe it or not there is a huge difference in calories when we are talking about black coffee and other types of coffee, those in which you add creamers, sugar, milk and other ingredients.
When you drink black coffee just as it is brewed the amount of calories is near 0. It sounds unbelievable but it is like that. A cup of coffee is mostly made of water so we can hardly find calories in it.
On the other hand, when you add other ingredients to your cup of coffee things change widely. Adding milk, sugar or cream to your coffee can increase the amount of calories enormously.
Calories in black coffee
As we mentioned before, black coffee is almost a 0 calories drink. However we can find some differences between some brewing systems.
Different brewing systems use a different amount of coffee beans and have a different time of extraction, resulting in a different amount of calories per serve. If you are interested in different brewing systems, you can check this articles from Coffee Devotion:
5 different coffee brewing methods: Which one is for you? Part 1
5 different coffee brewing methods: Which one is for you? Part 2
Although differences in calories between different brewing systems is veri subtil, here is a list so you can know which type of coffee has more calories per 8 ounces cup:
- Cold brew: 3 calories
- Espresso(1 ounce): 3 calories
- Americano: 5 calories
As we can see, black coffee has almost no calories at all. To have a comparison, an average apple has around 95 calories. Way more than a cup of coffee. This is the reason why black coffee is not forbidden in diets.
Calories adders
There are some ingredients that we usually add to coffee and that are responsible for adding tons of calories to our drink. These ones are: sugar, heavy cream, milk and creamer.
Let's have a look at how many calories can a serve of these ingredients add to our cup of coffee, that until now was calories free.
- Sugar: 49 calories per tablespoon
- Heavy cream: 52 calories per tablespoon
- Milk: 8 calories per tablespoon
- Creamer: 30 calories per tablespoon
These ingredients are responsible for adding calories to coffee. Usually when we prepare a coffee beverage we use more than one of these ingredients and in bigger amounts than a tablespoon. Let's have a look at the amount of calories in classic coffee drinks.
Calories in other types of coffee
As we saw before, black coffee is almost a non calories beverage. Problems start when we add tons of other ingredients to our cup that makes our coffee a full-calorie beverage.
Let's have a look at the list of popular coffee drinks and their amount of calories.
- Flat white: 170 calories per 12 ounces cup
- Latte: 190 calories per 16 ounces cup
- Cappuccino: 80 calories per 8 ounces cup
Some comparisons
In this case it is impossible to skype comparisons. We clearly saw that the differences in the amount of calories between black coffee and coffee with other ingredients is huge.
For example, let's compare an 8 ounces cup of americano coffee and a cappuccino. The first one has 5 calories while the second one has 80. There are 16 times more calories in the cappuccino than in the black americano coffee.
Adding ingredients like sugar, milk or cream to your cup of coffee also add a big amount of calories. That is why, although black coffee is usually permitted in diets, these other kinds of beverages are prohibited.
How to take off calories from coffee
There is only one effective way to have a coffee with few calories: drink it black.
If you think black coffee is undrinkable or to bitter to you, just follow this tips:
- Try different brewing systems: some brewing systems will give you a pretty strong coffee, such as espresso or moka, while other ones will give you a softer beverage, like Chemex or cold brew. If you want to learn more about brewing systems, you can check these series of articles in Coffee Devotion:
5 different coffee brewing methods: Which one is for you? Part 1
5 different coffee brewing methods: Which one is for you? Part 2
- Be aware of the roast. Roasting is an important instance to determine the final coffee flavor. In Coffee Devotion we have an article where we explain this deeply: 5 types of coffee roast you must know.
In general terms, the lighter the roast is, the softer and acidic the coffee will be. The darker the roast is, the stronger and bitter the coffee will be.
Anyway, we recommend you to read the article we just mentioned so you can find a roast that matches your taste.
- Go americano: Probably the best way of starting with black coffee. Americano has a big amount of water per gram of coffee. This type of coffee will let you enjoy the benefits of black coffee and you won't feel it as strong and bitter like an espresso.
Final thoughts
Now you know the enormous differences in calories between black coffee and other coffee preparations. I believe that we can enjoy both of them, but it is important to know the differences so we can choose consciously.
Did you already know that black coffee has almost 0 calories?