Question: Does hot chocolate have caffeine?
Answer: When we think of beverages with caffeine, hot chocolate probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. We often think of drinks like coffee, soda, and tea, but probably not hot chocolate. However, hot chocolate actually does contain caffeine. Let’s take a look at how much caffeine there is in hot chocolate.
While hot chocolate does have caffeine, it is minimal. One cup of hot chocolate has 5 milligrams (mg) of caffeine. One ounce of hot chocolate has 1 mg of caffeine. Below we have provided the caffeine content of other beverages to give some comparisons of caffeine.
Beverage Caffeine Per 1 Cup (8 fl oz)
| Beverage | Caffeine (mg) |
|---|---|
| Hot Chocolate | 5 mg |
| Coffee | 95 mg |
| Tea | 26 mg |
| Rockstar Energy Drink | 79 mg |
| Cola | 23 mg |
You can see above that the caffeine in hot chocolate is minimal in comparison to other caffeinated beverages. In most cases, the caffeine content will have no side effects associated with higher caffeine consumption such as insomnia, nervousness, and rapid heartbeat.
Why Does Hot Chocolate Have Caffeine? Hot chocolate is commonly made from cocoa. Cocoa is derived from the cocoa tree and the cocoa that we eat comes from the seeds (cocoa beans) on this tree. Cocoa naturally contains caffeine, which is why hot chocolate has caffeine in it.
In case you’re curious, chocolate milk also has caffeine. The caffeine content of chocolate milk is similar to hot chocolate with 5 grams per cup.
