Bare Brew Caffeine Content: 320mg Per Can — How It Compares to Starbucks Grande Cold Brew

THE LABEL MATH

One 12 fl oz can of Bare Brew contains 320mg of caffeine: 26.7mg per fluid ounce, 0g sugar, 2 ingredients. That is 80% of the 400mg a day the FDA cites for most healthy adults, and more than the 200mg single dose EFSA reviewed. This page lays out what that number means, how it compares, and where we lose.

See the 12 oz can and label

The number: 320mg in 12 fluid ounces

Every 12 fl oz can of Bare Brew Black Cold Brew lists 320mg of caffeine. The caffeine comes from the coffee itself. The label has two ingredients, coffee and water, so there is no added caffeine, no guarana, no taurine and no sweetener. The rest of the panel: 0g sugar, 5g total carbohydrate, 20 calories, 15mg sodium and 350mg potassium.

Divide 320 by 12 and you get 26.7mg per fluid ounce. That per-ounce figure matters more than the headline. Cans and cups come in different sizes, and a big number in a big cup can be a weaker drink than a smaller number in a small can.

Why is it that high? Cold brew uses more grounds per cup of water than drip coffee, and the coffee is slow-steeped rather than pushed through hot water in a few minutes. Our guide to how much caffeine is in cold brew walks through the ratio math in detail.

What 320mg means against the public reference numbers

Two public bodies publish the reference figures most people mean when they ask "is that a lot?"

FDA: In its consumer update "Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?", the FDA cites 400mg a day for healthy adults as an amount not generally associated with dangerous, negative effects. It also notes wide variation in how sensitive people are to caffeine and how fast they clear it.
EFSA: The European Food Safety Authority's 2015 Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine concluded that single doses up to 200mg, and up to 400mg over a day, do not raise safety concerns for healthy adults. For pregnancy it gives a separate 200mg a day figure.

Put the can next to those numbers:

One can is 80% of the FDA's 400mg daily reference.
One can is 120mg above the 200mg single dose EFSA reviewed.
Two cans in a day is 640mg, well past both daily figures.

That is the plain reading. Bare Brew is a one-can-a-day drink for most adults, not a two-can drink, and it is not a drink to stack on top of three cups of drip. If you are pregnant, trying to conceive, breastfeeding, caffeine-sensitive, or take any prescription medication, the FDA's advice is to ask your health care provider what amount is right for you. That applies to this can like it applies to any coffee.

How it compares: per can and per fluid ounce

Here is the comparison, sorted the way that matters: milligrams per fluid ounce.

Product	Size (fl oz)	Caffeine (mg)	mg per fl oz	Sugar (g)	Caffeine source
Death Wish Canned Cold Brew	8	300	37.5	varies by flavor	Coffee
Bare Brew Black Cold Brew	12	320	26.7	0	Coffee
Wandering Bear Straight Black (carton, per 6 fl oz serving)	6	150	25.0	0	Coffee
Celsius	12	200	16.7	0	Added caffeine (incl. green tea extract)
Starbucks Cold Brew, Grande (in store)	16	205	12.8	varies with add-ins	Coffee
Monster Energy (original)	16	~160	~10.0	~54	Added caffeine, plus guarana and taurine
Red Bull	8.4	~80	~9.5	~27	Added caffeine

Competitor figures are manufacturer-stated label or menu values as published, not measured by Bare Brew. Starbucks lists 205mg for a Grande Cold Brew; actual cups vary by store and batch. Wandering Bear's caffeine is stated per 6 fl oz serving of its carton product.

Three things stand out. First, Death Wish is more concentrated than we are, at 37.5mg per fluid ounce in a smaller 8 oz can. If maximum strength per sip is your only criterion, that is the can. Second, a Starbucks Grande Cold Brew has 205mg in 16 ounces, so a 12 oz Bare Brew carries more caffeine in four fewer ounces. Third, against the energy drinks in this table, Bare Brew carries more caffeine per ounce than Celsius, Monster or Red Bull, and it does it with two ingredients instead of a long panel. For the full ingredient-by-ingredient breakdown, see cold brew as a zero-sugar energy drink alternative.

Where Bare Brew loses: price per milligram

If the only thing you care about is the cheapest milligram of caffeine, Bare Brew is not it. Here is our own math:

4-pack: $23.99, or $6.00 a can
6-pack: $32.99, or $5.50 a can
12-pack: $53.99, or $4.50 a can, which works out to $0.0141 per milligram of caffeine

Shipping is a flat $8.99 on every US order, with no free-shipping threshold, so that has to go into your math too. Celsius is cheaper per milligram of caffeine. So is a bag of beans and a jar in your fridge, which is why we wrote whether it is cheaper to make cold brew or buy it. What you pay for in the can is the label: coffee, water, 0g sugar, nothing added, and a caffeine number that is printed rather than guessed.

Sugar is the part of the comparison that matters most

A 16 oz Monster lists about 54g of sugar. A Red Bull lists about 27g in 8.4 ounces. The American Heart Association suggests no more than 36g of added sugar a day for most men and 25g for most women. One Monster is over both figures. One Red Bull is over the figure for women.

Bare Brew has 0g sugar. No added sugar, so no sugar spike. We are not making a claim about how you will feel; we are telling you what is not in the can. If you track carbohydrate, the label number to use is 5g total carbohydrate per can, not zero. Zero sugar and zero carbohydrate are not the same thing.

What cold brewing changes, and what it does not

Cold brewing changes extraction. A 2018 study in Scientific Reports (Rao and Fuller) found that cold brew had lower total titratable acidity than hot brew made from the same beans, while pH was comparable. We do not put a percentage on that, because the study does not support one. If you have a digestive condition, talk to your doctor before changing what you drink.

Cold brewing does not reduce caffeine. A common myth is that cold brew is "gentler" because it is cold. The caffeine number on the can is the number you are drinking. Our honest look at whether cold brew is healthier than regular coffee covers what the research does and does not say.

How to use a 320mg can sensibly

Count it as your day's main dose. One can plus a large drip coffee can put you past 400mg.
Mind the clock. Caffeine has a half-life of several hours in most adults, so an afternoon can is still partly in your system at bedtime. Our piece on timing your first coffee covers the research on when to drink and when to stop.
Split it if you are coming from a small cup. If your usual is a tall drip, half a can now and half later is closer to what you are used to. A can does not reseal, so pour the second half into a glass and refrigerate it.
Read every label you stack. Pre-workout powders, energy drinks and some medications contain caffeine too. Add them up.

Founder's Take

I would rather you know exactly what 320mg means than find out at 3pm. It is a big number on purpose: one can, one clear dose, and a label short enough to read in two seconds. But a big number cuts both ways. One can is most of a day's caffeine by the FDA's reference, so treat it like that. Do not drink it on top of everything else, and do not drink two because the first one tasted good.

I also will not tell you it is the cheapest caffeine you can buy. It is not, and the table above says so. What I will stand behind is the label: coffee, water, 320mg, 0g sugar. If that is what you want in a can, here is the 12 oz can. If it is more than you want, the honest answer is a smaller coffee. — Miles, founder

Frequently asked questions

How much caffeine is in a can of Bare Brew?

320mg in a 12 fl oz can, or 26.7mg per fluid ounce. The caffeine comes only from the coffee; the ingredients are coffee and water.

Is 320mg of caffeine too much?

The FDA cites 400mg a day as an amount not generally associated with negative effects for most healthy adults, and EFSA reviewed single doses up to 200mg. One can is 80% of the FDA figure and above the EFSA single-dose figure. Sensitivity varies widely; if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, caffeine-sensitive or on medication, ask your health care provider.