Doodle Studio.

a caffeine audit

I checked my app's Starbucks caffeine numbers against Starbucks. 23 had changed.

In September I checked every drink in Onset's catalog against the maker's own page: 60 products and 103 servings. At Starbucks, 23 amounts differed from the numbers in my catalog.

Published

How I checked

All 50 branded products now have an official US source and a check date. Ten generic presets, like a plain cup of coffee, stay labeled as typical estimates. For branded drinks I used the maker's pages only, not third-party nutrition databases. For Starbucks I opened every size separately through the size controls and the full nutrition page.

These numbers are what the pages said on September 13, 2026. They aren't lab measurements, and the pages can change.

The Starbucks numbers

old catalog → Starbucks' page

  1. Blonde Roast – SunseraVenti · 20 fl oz475 → 390 mg
  2. Dark Roast – Starbucks 1971Grande · 16 fl oz260 → 315 mg
  3. Pike Place RoastGrande · 16 fl oz310 → 315 mg
Amounts from Starbucks' US nutrition pages as of September 13, 2026.
See all 23 changes
Drink and sizeWas (mg)Now (mg)Change
Pike Place RoastGrande · 16 fl oz310315+5
Pike Place RoastVenti · 20 fl oz410390-20
Blonde Roast – SunseraShort · 8 fl oz180155-25
Blonde Roast – SunseraTall · 12 fl oz270235-35
Blonde Roast – SunseraGrande · 16 fl oz360315-45
Blonde Roast – SunseraVenti · 20 fl oz475390-85
Dark Roast – Starbucks 1971Short · 8 fl oz130155+25
Dark Roast – Starbucks 1971Tall · 12 fl oz195235+40
Dark Roast – Starbucks 1971Grande · 16 fl oz260315+55
Dark Roast – Starbucks 1971Venti · 20 fl oz340390+50
Iced CoffeeTall · 12 fl oz120135+15
Iced CoffeeGrande · 16 fl oz165185+20
Iced CoffeeVenti · 24 fl oz235265+30
Iced CoffeeTrenta · 30 fl oz280320+40
Matcha LatteTall · 12 fl oz5545-10
Matcha LatteGrande · 16 fl oz8065-15
Matcha LatteVenti · 20 fl oz11085-25
Strawberry Açaí RefresherTall · 12 fl oz3525-10
Strawberry Açaí RefresherGrande · 16 fl oz4550+5
Strawberry Açaí RefresherVenti · 24 fl oz7075+5
Strawberry Açaí RefresherTrenta · 30 fl oz90100+10
Iced Black TeaGrande · 16 fl oz3025-5
Iced Green TeaGrande · 16 fl oz3025-5

The largest change is a Venti Blonde: 475 mg in the old catalog, 390 mg on Starbucks' page. Dark Roast went the other way, up 25 to 55 mg at every size.

Some of these changes come from replacing vague "Blonde" and "Dark" entries with the specific current roasts, Sunsera and Starbucks 1971. That doesn't mean every older roast had a wrong number. Sources: Pike Place, Sunsera, Starbucks 1971, Iced Coffee, Matcha Latte, Strawberry Açaí, Iced Black Tea and Iced Green Tea.

Ranges, not single numbers

Some makers publish a range instead of one number. The catalog had flattened 13 of those into single values. Onset now shows the range and uses the midpoint: Bigelow green tea is 25–50 mg per 8 fl oz, so Onset uses 37.5 mg, and Lipton Signature Blend green tea is 6–30 mg per bag, so Onset uses 18 mg.

What it means at bedtime

A grande Pike Place is 315 mg. Finished at 2 pm, a five-hour half-life leaves about 104 mg at a 10 pm bedtime, more than a whole 95 mg cup of coffee. The bedtime cutoff guide has the table for other drinks, and the calculator works it out for your own day. Onset is free on the App Store.