This Is The Most Caffeinated Coffee You Can Buy At Starbucks

Sometimes, when it comes to caffeine, you're seeking the most bang for your buck. Experts can warn us all day long about the possible detrimental health effects of over-caffeinating the human body, but, now and again, we just really need a dose of that sweet go-go juice to perk us up. If you're not into energy drinks with the most caffeine or Mello Yello, the high caffeine soda that, despite rumors, was never actually discontinued, there's always good ol' coffee. If you are among the hoards of folks hitting up Starbucks — keep in mind that the logo mascot is not a normal mermaid! – you may have wondered how you can get your hands on the most caffeine-laden drink possible.

To achieve caffeine nirvana at Starbucks, you want to order blonde roast brewed coffee, which crams 360 milligrams of the good stuff into a grande cup. Want to make it a venti? That throttles the caffeine load to 400 milligrams, which is the topmost end of the FDA's guidelines for safe daily consumption for a healthy adult. Why blonde roast, specifically? The answer has to do with the science of coffee, which is fascinating even if you avoid the beloved beverage.

The reason why blonde roast, at Starbucks and elsewhere, has more caffeine has to do with the intricacies of the coffee roasting process. Blonde roast gets its name from the fact that the coffee beans are not roasted as long, keeping them "lighter." There are a couple of reasons why less-roasted coffee is higher in caffeine. First of all, it's thought that the roasting process removes some caffeine from the beans due to high heat. Blonde roasts, being roasted for less time, lose less caffeine. There's also the fact that, over time spent roasting, coffee beans expand physically. Therefore, lighter roasts are denser, meaning that a similar volume of grounds has more actual coffee in it, making it naturally stronger. Ironically, the shorter roast on blonde coffee gives it a more mellow taste. You might not expect medium roast or dark roast coffee to have stronger flavors, considering that they contain less caffeine, but that's the exact truth!

At Starbucks, blonde roast coffee is generally brewed in the morning, but the baristas are happy to make it for you throughout the day if you ask. Using your Starbucks app is an easy way to specify the roast of coffee or espresso that you'd like in your drink, so don't hesitate to swap as you see fit. If you really want an eye-opener to power you through a busy day, blonde roast is probably the way to go.