<p>First I want to draw a comparison between how much caffeine is in a coffee bean versus a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, or a double espresso.</p>

<p>In a standard cup of coffee, there is approximately 150 mg of caffeine. In a cup of black tea, steeped for 3 - 5 minutes there is approximately 50 mg of caffeine. In a double espresso there is approximately 60 - 90 mg of caffeine depending on the roast, grind, extraction time, etc.</p>

<p>In one dark roasted espresso bean there is approximately 6 mg of caffeine according to <a href="http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/coffee-beans" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this source.</a></p>

<p>If a person is <strong>extremely sensitive</strong> to caffeine, they would probably be able to feel the effect of 6 mg of caffeine. However, if someone is a coffee drinker, the likelihood that this caffeine is actually affecting them is <strong>very</strong> unlikely.</p>

<p>If your friend never ingests soda, coffee, tea, or caffeine in any form then he <strong>may</strong> have felt some of the effects. In my opinion, the majority of the way your colleague was feeling was probably a placebo effect.</p>

<p><strong>Edit:</strong> Coming back to this answer, I neglected to mention the effect of the taste of the coffee bean. Taste and aroma can powerfully affect and stimulate the brain. Due to the relatively strong taste resulting from chewing up a roasted coffee bean, this may have also contributed to the reported feeling of stimulation.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-13T18:15:41.777Z
I added an additional piece of information regarding the stimulating effect of taste and aroma into my answer, which just now occurred to me, a few years after initially answering this.
Patrick Sebastien
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-02T17:39:14.320Z
The placebo effect can have a great effect on the coffee drinker. How many times have you seen the *caffeine addict* express great relief after finally taking that first sip in the morning?
Robert Cartaino
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-02T18:57:44.570Z
Your assertion about the caffeine levels vs bean roast is incorrect.  Three beans roasted to three levels will all have roughly the same amount of caffeine.  However, the more darkly roasted bean will have more caffeine by weight.    Caffeine is not lost during the roasting process, water is, so the weight of a bean may change, but the amount of caffeine does not.
Suspended User
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-02T18:59:09.247Z
@ChrisinAK Ok. I am open to this. Can you explain to me how more caffeine is in a light roast brew versus a dark roast brew then? I would like to understand and change my post accordingly.
Patrick Sebastien
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-02T19:04:56.843Z
It depends on how you measure the coffee.  The melting point of caffeine is higher than the temperatures beans reach while roasting, so caffeine is not destroyed.  Beans do lose moisture however, during the roast process, so the darker you roast, the less weighty the bean becomes for the same amount of caffeine.  So by weight, darker beans will contain more caffeine.  However, most people don't measure their coffee by weight, they measure by volume when making a pot of coffee.
Suspended User
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-02T19:23:34.433Z
@ChrisinAK I did some research and you are correct. I will edit my post accordingly.
Patrick Sebastien
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-02T19:25:04.090Z
@PatrickSebastien  Thanks so much.  It's one of those common misconceptions that's turned into a pet peeve of mine.
Suspended User
CC BY-SA 4.0
2015-02-02T17:00:17.790Z
2018-05-13T18:14:18.270Z
2018-05-13T18:14:18.270Z
Patrick Sebastien
<p>This <a href="http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/health/caffeine.pdf" rel="nofollow">paper</a> from the BC government states that 3 chocolate covered coffee beans have 36mg of caffeine. </p>

<p>This <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?uid=15164887&amp;cmd=showdetailview&amp;indexed=google" rel="nofollow">study</a> used doses of 0.3 mg per kg of body mass per hour, and noticed that the caffeine levels saturated exponentially. </p>

<p>Information on the Effective Dose (ED) of caffeine, has been surprisingly hard to find. Although I did find papers that refer to 100mg as a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21522070" rel="nofollow">"low dose"</a> or as a <a href="http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/8846793/Mrazik.html?sequence=2" rel="nofollow">"baseline dosage"</a>. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>It is difficult to arrive at a recommended ordinary consumption
  quantity, or a standard “dose,” since caffeine is present in various
  consumer goods at widely differing levels. Some sources suggest that
  one-hundred milligrams, whether delivered into the bloodstream by
  liquid or solid, is useful as a base-line single dosage.[18] Though
  caffeine content can differ markedly even within a product category,
  (for example, the amount of caffeine present in “real-world coffee”
  can range from seventy-five to two-hundred-fifty milligrams per
  serving), the rough quantity of caffeine in the most commonly ingested
  products is well known.[19]</p>
  
  <p>A standard six ounce cup of drip-brewed coffee contains roughly
  one-hundred milligrams of caffeine, whereas a similarly sized cup of
  brewed tea contains roughly seventy milligrams.[20] Espresso, a common
  ingredient in many of today’s popular specialty coffee drinks,
  contains closer to one-hundred milligrams of caffeine per liquid
  ounce.[21] A conventional twelve ounce can of soda contains
  approximately fifty milligrams of caffeine, though specialty sodas
  such as “Jolt Cola” contain closer to seventy milligrams.[22] Milk
  chocolate contains roughly six milligrams of caffeine per ounce.[23]
  In the most common over-the-counter drugs, “Anacin” and “Excedrin”
  tablets contain thirty-two milligrams of caffeine each, while
  “Vivarin” contains two-hundred milligrams per tablet.[24]</p>
  
  <p>More noteworthy than the specific quantity of caffeine in conventional
  consumer products is the quantity of each product ingested on a daily
  basis. While the customary six ounce cup of coffee may contain
  one-hundred milligrams of caffeine, the ordinary serving sizes of
  “Starbucks” coffees are twelve, sixteen, and twenty ounces each.[25]
  More than half of all adult Americans “drink an average of three and a
  half cups of coffee a day, in addition to tea, cola, chocolate and
  over-the-counter caffeine-containing drugs.”[26] If potential problems
  with adult caffeine consumption are an issue to be considered, the
  caffeine intake of children is even more important, because “the
  potency of caffeine on a human body depends on the body’s weight.”[27]
  Some sources suggest that “[t]he highest exposure to caffeine from
  soft drinks on a mg/ kg / day basis is among young children,”
  especially children under the age of six.[28]</p>
</blockquote>

<p>It seems unlikely that he would feel the effect of eating a single bean. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-26T02:12:11.903Z
2015-09-26T02:12:11.903Z
PabTorre
<p>I'm sure it's possible. I myself feel the effect of chewing on a single bean.</p>

<p>The reason has to do with the different way we absorb caffeine when chewed rather than brewed.</p>

<p>When drinking coffee, the caffeine has to be digested and absorbed through your stomach lining, duodenum, or small intestine (I'm not sure which.)</p>

<p>On the other hand, when chewing on a bean, the caffeine is directly absorbed by your mouth into the bloodstream. Therefore even a single bean, which may have 1/10 or less caffeine than a cup, will give you a boost. It will give it sooner, usually while you're still chewing on it, but it will go away sooner too. (Unless you eat a large number of beans. Don't do that.)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-10T02:58:20.893Z
Welcome to Coffee SE, feel free to take the [tour](http://coffee.stackexchange.com/tour).
MTSan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-07T06:01:53.107Z
AFAIK, there is nothing wrong with eating a large number of beans by someone who is tolerant to caffeine.
Asclepius
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-09T23:04:39.783Z
2016-04-09T23:04:39.783Z
Tobia
<p>The question title says it all: My colleague wanted to try my coffee, so he grabbed one bean of coffee (roasted) and chewed it up.</p>

<p>After several minutes, he claims, that it has positive effects on him (feels "juiced up)</p>

<p>Obviously, I am wondering now: Is it just placebo effect, or is there any possibility to feel this after chewing up only one bean?</p>

<health><beans><whole-bean>
Is it possible to feel any effects after chewing one coffee bean?
Pavel Janicek
# Is it possible to feel any effects after chewing one coffee bean?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-02-02)

The question title says it all: My colleague wanted to try my coffee, so he grabbed one bean of coffee (roasted) and chewed it up.

After several minutes, he claims, that it has positive effects on him (feels "juiced up)

Obviously, I am wondering now: Is it just placebo effect, or is there any possibility to feel this after chewing up only one bean?

**Tags:** health, beans, whole-bean


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-02-02. Score: 15 | Accepted answer

First I want to draw a comparison between how much caffeine is in a coffee bean versus a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, or a double espresso.

In a standard cup of coffee, there is approximately 150 mg of caffeine. In a cup of black tea, steeped for 3 - 5 minutes there is approximately 50 mg of caffeine. In a double espresso there is approximately 60 - 90 mg of caffeine depending on the roast, grind, extraction time, etc.

In one dark roasted espresso bean there is approximately 6 mg of caffeine according to [this source.](http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/coffee-beans)

If a person is **extremely sensitive** to caffeine, they would probably be able to feel the effect of 6 mg of caffeine. However, if someone is a coffee drinker, the likelihood that this caffeine is actually affecting them is **very** unlikely.

If your friend never ingests soda, coffee, tea, or caffeine in any form then he **may** have felt some of the effects. In my opinion, the majority of the way your colleague was feeling was probably a placebo effect.

**Edit:** Coming back to this answer, I neglected to mention the effect of the taste of the coffee bean. Taste and aroma can powerfully affect and stimulate the brain. Due to the relatively strong taste resulting from chewing up a roasted coffee bean, this may have also contributed to the reported feeling of stimulation.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: The placebo effect can have a great effect on the coffee drinker. How many times have you seen the *caffeine addict* express great relief after finally taking that first sip in the morning?  
> **username_3**: Your assertion about the caffeine levels vs bean roast is incorrect.  Three beans roasted to three levels will all have roughly the same amount of caffeine.  However, the more darkly roasted bean will have more caffeine by weight.    Caffeine is not lost during the roasting process, water is, so the weight of a bean may change, but the amount of caffeine does not.  
> **username_1**: @ChrisinAK Ok. I am open to this. Can you explain to me how more caffeine is in a light roast brew versus a dark roast brew then? I would like to understand and change my post accordingly.  
> **username_3**: It depends on how you measure the coffee.  The melting point of caffeine is higher than the temperatures beans reach while roasting, so caffeine is not destroyed.  Beans do lose moisture however, during the roast process, so the darker you roast, the less weighty the bean becomes for the same amount of caffeine.  So by weight, darker beans will contain more caffeine.  However, most people don't measure their coffee by weight, they measure by volume when making a pot of coffee.  
> **username_1**: @ChrisinAK I did some research and you are correct. I will edit my post accordingly.  
> **username_3**: @PatrickSebastien  Thanks so much.  It's one of those common misconceptions that's turned into a pet peeve of mine.  
> **username_1**: I added an additional piece of information regarding the stimulating effect of taste and aroma into my answer, which just now occurred to me, a few years after initially answering this.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2015-09-26. Score: 4

This [paper](http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/health/caffeine.pdf) from the BC government states that 3 chocolate covered coffee beans have 36mg of caffeine.

This [study](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?uid=15164887&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google) used doses of 0.3 mg per kg of body mass per hour, and noticed that the caffeine levels saturated exponentially.

Information on the Effective Dose (ED) of caffeine, has been surprisingly hard to find. Although I did find papers that refer to 100mg as a ["low dose"](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21522070) or as a ["baseline dosage"](http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/8846793/Mrazik.html?sequence=2).

> It is difficult to arrive at a recommended ordinary consumption
> quantity, or a standard “dose,” since caffeine is present in various
> consumer goods at widely differing levels. Some sources suggest that
> one-hundred milligrams, whether delivered into the bloodstream by
> liquid or solid, is useful as a base-line single dosage.[18] Though
> caffeine content can differ markedly even within a product category,
> (for example, the amount of caffeine present in “real-world coffee”
> can range from seventy-five to two-hundred-fifty milligrams per
> serving), the rough quantity of caffeine in the most commonly ingested
> products is well known.[19]
>
> A standard six ounce cup of drip-brewed coffee contains roughly
> one-hundred milligrams of caffeine, whereas a similarly sized cup of
> brewed tea contains roughly seventy milligrams.[20] Espresso, a common
> ingredient in many of today’s popular specialty coffee drinks,
> contains closer to one-hundred milligrams of caffeine per liquid
> ounce.[21] A conventional twelve ounce can of soda contains
> approximately fifty milligrams of caffeine, though specialty sodas
> such as “Jolt Cola” contain closer to seventy milligrams.[22] Milk
> chocolate contains roughly six milligrams of caffeine per ounce.[23]
> In the most common over-the-counter drugs, “Anacin” and “Excedrin”
> tablets contain thirty-two milligrams of caffeine each, while
> “Vivarin” contains two-hundred milligrams per tablet.[24]
>
> More noteworthy than the specific quantity of caffeine in conventional
> consumer products is the quantity of each product ingested on a daily
> basis. While the customary six ounce cup of coffee may contain
> one-hundred milligrams of caffeine, the ordinary serving sizes of
> “Starbucks” coffees are twelve, sixteen, and twenty ounces each.[25]
> More than half of all adult Americans “drink an average of three and a
> half cups of coffee a day, in addition to tea, cola, chocolate and
> over-the-counter caffeine-containing drugs.”[26] If potential problems
> with adult caffeine consumption are an issue to be considered, the
> caffeine intake of children is even more important, because “the
> potency of caffeine on a human body depends on the body’s weight.”[27]
> Some sources suggest that “[t]he highest exposure to caffeine from
> soft drinks on a mg/ kg / day basis is among young children,”
> especially children under the age of six.[28]

It seems unlikely that he would feel the effect of eating a single bean.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2016-04-09. Score: 0

I'm sure it's possible. I myself feel the effect of chewing on a single bean.

The reason has to do with the different way we absorb caffeine when chewed rather than brewed.

When drinking coffee, the caffeine has to be digested and absorbed through your stomach lining, duodenum, or small intestine (I'm not sure which.)

On the other hand, when chewing on a bean, the caffeine is directly absorbed by your mouth into the bloodstream. Therefore even a single bean, which may have 1/10 or less caffeine than a cup, will give you a boost. It will give it sooner, usually while you're still chewing on it, but it will go away sooner too. (Unless you eat a large number of beans. Don't do that.)

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: Welcome to Coffee SE, feel free to take the [tour](http://coffee.stackexchange.com/tour).  
> **username_7**: AFAIK, there is nothing wrong with eating a large number of beans by someone who is tolerant to caffeine.  

---

