Chocolate and coffee are truly a match made in heaven. And mochas are delicious, but what about when you feel more like a snack than a drink? That is where chocolate-covered espresso beans come in!
But how much caffeine is there in chocolate-covered espresso beans? And how healthy is this sweet snack? Keep reading to find out!
What’s in a chocolate-covered espresso bean?
As you would expect, a chocolate-covered espresso bean is a roasted coffee bean dipped in chocolate. But the exact ingredients depend on the brand you buy or how you make them at home.
The biggest determiner is whether you’re eating dark, milk, or white chocolate beans. White chocolate won’t add any caffeine (though it will add sugar and calories) because it doesn’t contain cacao. Milk chocolate has less cacao than dark chocolate, which might have up to 85% cacao.
How much caffeine is in chocolate?
As a general rule, as chocolate gets darker, it also contains more caffeine. This is because, like coffee beans, the cacao beans used to make chocolate naturally contain caffeine.
According to the USDA, dark chocolate (70-85% cacao) has about 22.7 milligrams of caffeine per ounce. Milk chocolate has 5.8 milligrams of caffeine per ounce, and white chocolate has 0 milligrams of caffeine.
How much caffeine in a coffee bean?
A single Arabica coffee bean contains about 6 milligrams of caffeine. When you brew coffee, you typically extract less caffeine than that — often only 1 to 2 milligrams. It depends on your brewing method, but there’s typically still some caffeine left in the bean. On the other hand, if you are eating the whole bean, you’ll get every milligram of caffeine.
What’s a good serving size?
No one has the self-control to only eat one chocolate-covered espresso bean! So what’s the recommended serving size for this treat? You’ll find this number on the nutrition label of your beans, and it varies depending on the brand. But a typical serving size ranges from 40 to 50 grams.
So how much caffeine in chocolate-covered espresso beans?
A single chocolate-covered espresso bean has between 6 and 13 milligrams of caffeine. The coffee bean has about 6 milligrams, and the rest comes from the chocolate coating. If each bean is around 2.85 grams, a serving of chocolate-covered espresso beans (40 grams) will have between 84 and 182 milligrams of caffeine.
This range is pretty wide — because the beans can be coated in more or less chocolate, and the chocolate may be milk or dark. If you’re buying white chocolate espresso beans, expect the low end. Prefer dark chocolate espresso beans? You’ll be on the higher end! Pretty simple, right?
Caffeine & Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans: The Bottom Line
There you have it: the amount of caffeine in chocolate-covered espresso beans. This range (84 to 182 milligrams in a serving) is good to keep in mind, especially if you also drink coffee, caffeinated tea, or soda. Consuming too much caffeine can cause unpleasant symptoms like jitters, so you enjoy those chocolate-covered espresso beans — but don’t enjoy them too much! And if you have trouble sleeping, the caffeine in chocolate-covered espresso beans should make them an exclusively lunchtime treat — not a bedtime snack.
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