The High Street coffees with the biggest caffeine kick: Costa offers strongest ... trends now
Those looking for a pick-me-up from their morning coffee may find their not getting the boost they expected from popular high street chains.
Five coffee chains including Starbucks, Costa and Pret have been put to the test by consumer group Which? who measured the caffeine levels in hot beverages.
The results have revealed 'huge differences' in the amount of caffeine in espressos, cappuccinos and filter coffees.
At its best, a dose of caffeine boosts alertness, elevates the mood and can improve performance for those in physical jobs.
However, there are also potential negatives of having too much caffeine as well as presenting a heightened risk to pregnant women.
Revealed: Which? found 'huge differences' in the amount of caffeine in espressos, cappuccinos and filter coffees at five popular high street chains
The consumer champion investigated caffeine levels in cappuccino, espresso and filter coffees at Costa, Starbucks, Pret a Manger, Greggs and Caffè Nero.
They discovered that high street barista Costa's signature blend offers the strongest medium cappuccino with a massive 325mg of caffeine per 362ml.
At the other end of the rankings, Starbucks had the lowest caffeine content with just 66mg per 350ml.
Notably, the low 66mg of caffeine found in the Starbucks cappuccino was even less than the 75mg you would find in a typical tea bag.
Second weakest was Caffe Nero's cappuccino which had between 110-115mg of caffeine per 355ml.
Greggs offered the second highest level in a cappuccino at 197mg while Pret a Manger came in third at 180mg.
Which? concluded: 'Knocking back two medium cappuccinos from Costa in a day could therefore put you over the safe limit of caffeine intake, while the Starbucks version may not be quite the wake-up call you were hoping for.'
Looking at other drinks, Pret generally came out as the strongest in terms of caffeine levels.
A single-shot espresso from Pret contained 180mg of caffeine, which was six times as much as Starbucks, which had a meagre 33mg.
Costa again scored highly when it came to the caffeine in its espresso, with 100mg in a 30ml drink.
Greggs had 75mg of
