How Many Calories In Coffee
I just got back from Starbucks and I had one of the most revealing and shocking conversations with the Barista.
When I go to Starbucks I get a grande coffee misto with 1-pump of flavor shot.
Does this look more like a coffee or a milkshake
The flavor shot is approx 70 calories, and there is about 40-50 calories worth of milk, so overall my coffee is about 120 calories. That’s not bad and it’s a very satisfying morning creature comfort that I simply will no give up for any reason.
The interesting thing is that I have to specifically ask for 1-pump of flavor…the standard amount of flavor shots in a grande is 4-pumps…that means a grande with the ‘normal’ amount of flavor is approximately 300 calories (the venti usually has 5 shots for a total of 350 calories)
But that’s not the shocking part. I asked the Barista “what is the most flavor shot pumps you have put in a drink for someone?”…she told me that they have a regular customer who gets 10-pumps!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!
That is 700 calories in one drink!
They also have other drinks that come with a standard 7-pumps of flavor, that’s approx 500 calories standard without asking for extra shots.
The flavor shot pumps we’re taking about deliver approximately 18 grams of sugar per pump.
Obviously the 10-pump drink person is an outlier, but the Barista told me it’s pretty normal for people to get the regular 4 or 5 pump drinks with whip cream and some chocolate or caramel topping, and they’ve got regulars who ask for their drinks ‘extra sweet’ which means an extra pump or two.
If you went to starbucks and got one of these drinks with a slice of banana bread or some other food item on the side you could easily be consuming 800-900 calories (and that is just a morning stop for a coffee and a treat!)
For most people that is almost half of their daily BMR right there, and I guarantee most starbuck goers don’t even consider their morning coffee stop as a ‘meal’.
I’m amazed that people can handle that much sweetness. I think my 1-pump is plenty sweet enough, I couldn’t imagine 4 (let alone 10!…10-pumps!…that’s approx 180grams of sugar in one drink…seriously WTF?!)
It seems that places like Startbucks are simply ice cream parlors masquerading as coffee shops.
They are essentially the socially acceptable place to mass consume cups of sugar, caramel, whip cream, and chocolate without feeling like you’re doing anything ‘wrong’.
Think about it, how many times per week does the average person stop at Dairy Queen for a milkshake or blizzard. If you did this every morning you’d be labeled unhealthy, a junk food/fast food addict etc…it just wouldn’t feel right.
BUT it’s perfectly normal to stop into a coffee shop every morning for a cup of sugar and fat that is essentially no different than a milkshake from DQ.
(the Barista even told me that they have a regular who comes in at 5am for a venti frappuccino…for anyone unfamiliar, a frappucino is essentially a milkshake with a shot of coffee added…about 550 calories)
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all ripping on Starbucks, in fact I love the coffee and choices they have. They’re not forcing anyone to order or drink anything they serve…that is purely a free choice of each customer…they’re just serving what people want, and apparently people want milkshakes (but without the social stigma of ordering a milkshake every day).
What I am doing is trying to show you how easy the calories can add up when it comes to drinks like coffee.
On one extreme you can get a plain black coffee which has zero calories. On the other end you’ve got these multi-flavored cappucino and latte offerings with multi-pump flavor shots, whip cream and syrup toppings etc.
The Social Perception of “Coffee”
Socially a plain black coffee and a frappucino or latte or cappucino are all considered ‘coffee’ to some degree, but when you break them down to their parts one of them has zero calories and the other can have as many calories as big mac from McDonalds!
So can you lose weight while drinking coffee?
Well that depends on what your definition of coffee is. If you’re the frappuccino/cappuccino quadruple pump whip cream drinker I’d guess that you’re going to have trouble losing weight.
On the other hand if you pay attention to the amount of calories you’re adding to your coffee then you can easily add these tasty drinks to an effective weight loss program.
The disturbing point is that a 4-pump 350 calorie drink is ‘normal’ and my 1-pump 100 calorie drink is the exception to the rule.
John
7 Responses to “How Many Calories In Coffee”
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November 22nd, 2010 at 12:12 pm
That’s why Krispy Kreme shall reign supreme as the ultimate snack – only a 150 calories to satisfy your munchies! But yeah, people just don’t get “calories.” And even if they do understand that fat gain is just a matter of calories, most people don’t have any idea how much little or how much 300 calories is vs. 900 calories.
November 22nd, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Yeas people don’t realize how many calories they get into theri bodies just by drinking coffee, cola, sprite and other stuff.
I personally drink water, green tea and that’s it. If I’m in the starbucks I order something worth about 200kcal as you do.
I remeber speaking to a girl who has been slightly overweight and wanted to lose fat, but wasn’t able to do it. She said that she almost doesn’t eat, so there must be something wrong with her. After talking to her for an hour I found out that she drinks about 8 cups of Coke and about 2 large coffees per day. She told me that it gives here energy, but it’s not a meal so she cannot be fat thanks to that.
Guess what happened once she stopped drinking it.
Back to starbucks, I love it – great drinks, great snacks even though little bit expensive here in Czech Republic. Anyway love it, but ordering 700kcal drink every morning can seriously screw up your fat loss goal, so people should definitely be aware of that fact.
Great post as ussual.
Vaclav Gregor
November 22nd, 2010 at 3:54 pm
I really think the root of the problem for the overwhelming majority of people is that they don’t intellectually understand that fat loss/gain is simply about calories. They think it’s a complex combination of all sorts things, which is why they fall for marketing scams like “fat-free” and “sugar free.” When people ask me what my secret is and I tell them I just eat less calories, they always give me a double-take and a puzzled look. VGregor’s experience is exactly my experience too – people’s lack of understanding of the relationship between calories and fat is why people think you can’t get fat with drinks, but as we all know, calories are calories regardless of where it comes from or it’s in liquid or solid form. In fact, I would say one of the best tips for caloric restriction is to completely cut out liquid calories (except for special occasions of course). Before I knew about calories, I thought it was NECESSARY to drink milk, orange juice, etc. to be healthy lol. Man, I was downing a LOT of easily avoidable calories!
November 22nd, 2010 at 4:01 pm
I didn’t say that right – probably better to say to cut out as much liquid calories as possible. Like, I was never crazy about milk or orange juice, so there was no reason for me to drink that in the past other thinking it was important. I only drink liquid calories now if the occasion calls for it or it’s something I actually like, e.g. alcohol, milk for cereal, horchata. It’s all about being aware of what you’re eating. For newbies, I think it’s a good idea to start counting calories at first just to get an idea of how much calories food can have. After you get good at that, you can stop counting calories so exactly. Until then, a newbie can be so completely unaware that he/she is consuming X amount of calories.
November 22nd, 2010 at 5:13 pm
You got it right, John. Most people have no idea how many calories they consume in a “coffee”. I have it in quotes because in my mind coffee is water, your choice of blend and a bit of sugar and milk, for some. These day, with Starbucks and other small coffee stops, you have whipped cream, caramel, chocolate chips and other kinds of sugary treats into a cup of “coffee”. I have a friend who gets one such coffee on almost a daily basis. And I tell him that if he wants to lose any more weight (he’s lost quite a bit already), he has to consider that cup a regular meal with a hefty load of calories. It hurts but it’s just reality…
November 22nd, 2010 at 5:21 pm
I love Starbucks’ Frappucinos (milkshakes) but I also consume most of my calories as liquids but this doesn’t stop me from losing weight.I know how many calories are in everything I consume. I have no qualms about what I eat/drink and there are some weeks I drink up to 4-5 milkshakes not counting Starbucks. It would help if every establishment had to put the calories up on the menu boards like NYC/Philly. It probably won’t be long before this happens though. Ignorance is bliss, no one even bothers to consider counting calories if their goal is to lose weight.
December 6th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Great article, for the most part. People certainly drink far too many of their calories.
But on your numbers, there’s a good chance you’re off a bit on the totals (and, 700 calories of sugar in one cup would actually be close to undrinkable even by sugar addicts) – googling for syrup pump yields results usually of 1/4oz per pump – so 4 pumps is actually “just” 70 calories. This holds up if you look at the difference between a grande latte with and without syrup – 70 calories.
Oh, and a nonfat Grande Misto is 70 calories worth of milk, fyi. Not that that’s a bad caloric expenditure, mind you. I’d likely get a Venti Misto with sugar-free syrup. Yum.