How many calories are in a mug of coffee?
A 12 fl oz mug of black brewed coffee weighs 360 g and carries 4 calories. Per 100 g the drink is 1 calorie. There is no fat worth counting, no carbohydrate and no sugar in it at all — everything people end up logging for their morning coffee comes from what goes in after the pour.
On this page
- Mug of coffee quick facts
- US servings from one ounce to a 16 fl oz mug
- Decaf instant espresso and iced coffee
- What milk does to the number
- Potassium is the only row that moves
- How does a mug of coffee compare?
- Most popular mug of coffee brands
- FAQ
Mug of coffee quick facts
The record behind this page is FNDDS 2710375, "Coffee, brewed" — plain brewed coffee, water and grounds, nothing added. It was chosen over the older SR Legacy entry (171890) for one practical reason: the values are identical, but FNDDS also publishes the household measures Americans actually drink from, at 240 g, 360 g and 480 g. That is what turns a per-100-g number into a mug.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 mug, 12 fl oz (360 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 1 | 4 | — |
| Total fat | 0.02 g | 0.1 g | <1% |
| Saturated fat | 0 g | 0 g | 0% |
| Carbohydrate | 0 g | 0 g | 0% |
| Dietary fiber | 0 g | 0 g | 0% |
| Total sugars | 0 g | 0 g | — |
| Protein | 0.12 g | 0.4 g | <1% |
| Sodium | 2 mg | 7 mg | <1% |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0 mg | 0% |
| Potassium | 49 mg | 176 mg | 4% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Two rows you would see on a packaged coffee drink are missing here. This FNDDS release does not publish added sugars or trans fat for brewed coffee, and neither line would carry a number anyway: black coffee has no sugar to add and no fat to hydrogenate. The Daily Values used above are the FDA reference amounts printed on every US label.
US servings from one ounce to a 16 fl oz mug
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 fl oz | 30 g | 0 kcal |
| 1 oz | 28 g | 0 kcal |
| 1 cup, 8 fl oz | 240 g | 2 kcal |
| 1 mug, 12 fl oz | 360 g | 4 kcal |
| 1 large mug, 16 fl oz | 480 g | 5 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 1 kcal |
The cup, the mug and the large mug are USDA household measures, listed with the record itself. The 1 oz row is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure rather than a USDA serving, and it is here only because Americans weigh coffee on kitchen scales in ounces as often as they pour it by volume.
Notice how little the size matters. Doubling from an 8 fl oz cup to a 16 fl oz mug adds three calories. A person who drinks three large mugs a day is drinking 15 calories, which is about one saltine cracker. If you track your intake, the honest move is to log the coffee once at zero and spend your attention on the milk.
Decaf instant espresso and iced coffee
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black brewed coffee | 1 kcal | 1 mug, 12 fl oz (360 g) | 4 kcal |
| Decaf brewed coffee | 0 kcal | 1 mug, 12 fl oz (360 g) | 0 kcal |
| Instant coffee, reconstituted | 3 kcal | 1 cup, 8 fl oz (240 g) | 7 kcal |
| Espresso, restaurant-prepared | 9 kcal | 1 fl oz shot (30 g) | 3 kcal |
| Iced coffee, brewed | 1 kcal | 1 cup, 8 fl oz (240 g) | 2 kcal |
| Caffè latte | 43 kcal | 1 cup, 8 fl oz (240 g) | 103 kcal |
Decaf is the one version that rounds all the way to zero. Taking the caffeine out takes a trace of dissolved solids with it, so USDA lists decaffeinated brewed coffee at 0 calories per 100 g against 1 for regular. That difference is real in the database and meaningless in a day of eating.
Instant is the surprise. Reconstituted instant coffee sits at 3 calories per 100 g with 0.63 g of carbohydrate, because the granules dissolve completely and the carbohydrate that brewing leaves in the filter goes into the cup instead. An 8 fl oz cup of instant is 7 calories — more than a full 12 fl oz mug of drip at 4.
Iced coffee brewed the ordinary way tracks the hot version exactly, at 1 calorie per 100 g, so an 8 fl oz glass before any syrup is 2 calories. Bottled black cold brew behaves the same on the shelf: USDA's branded data has a black cold brew at 4 calories per 100 g, which works out to 16 calories for a 405 ml bottle, and an unsweetened cold-brew concentrate shot at 77 calories per 100 g that still lands at only 10 calories because the shot is 13 ml.
What milk does to the number
Espresso looks like the dense one at 9 calories per 100 g, nine times the density of drip coffee. It is a trap. A restaurant shot is 1 fl oz, or 30 g, so it comes to 3 calories — one more than a whole 8 fl oz cup of brewed coffee, and one less than a 12 fl oz mug. Density loses to serving size every time.
Milk is the variable that actually counts. A 1-cup caffè latte is 103 calories, against 2 calories for the same cup of black coffee, so roughly 101 of those calories come from the milk. That is our own arithmetic across two USDA records rather than a published figure, but the direction is not in doubt: the latte record carries 2.81 g of protein and 4.06 g of sugar per 100 g, and brewed coffee carries neither.
Put differently, one latte equals about 25 mugs of black coffee. If you are trimming calories and coffee is on your list, the coffee was never the problem — the pour of milk on top of it was. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans make the same point about beverages generally: what gets stirred in, not the base drink, is where the calories in a day accumulate.
Potassium is the only row that moves
Run down the nutrition panel for a mug of coffee and almost every line is a zero or a rounding error. Fat is 0.1 g, protein 0.4 g, sodium 7 mg — under 1% of the Daily Value each. Cholesterol is flatly zero.
Potassium is the exception. A 12 fl oz mug carries 176 mg, which is 4% of the 4,700 mg Daily Value, and it arrives with no calories attached. Three mugs across a morning and an afternoon would be roughly 12% of the day's potassium for 12 calories total. Coffee is not a potassium supplement, and the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements puts beans, potatoes and dairy far ahead of it, but it is the one number on this page worth noticing.
If you are watching sodium, black coffee is about as neutral as a drink gets: 7 mg in a mug is a rounding error against the 2,300 mg daily limit. Espresso is saltier per 100 g at 14 mg, though a 30 g shot still delivers only about 4 mg.
How does a mug of coffee compare?
| Drink | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mug of black brewed coffee | 1 kcal | 1 mug, 12 fl oz (360 g) | 4 kcal |
| Instant coffee, reconstituted | 3 kcal | 1 cup, 8 fl oz (240 g) | 7 kcal |
| Espresso, restaurant-prepared | 9 kcal | 1 fl oz shot (30 g) | 3 kcal |
| Caffè latte | 43 kcal | 1 cup, 8 fl oz (240 g) | 103 kcal |
Our take: three of these four drinks are indistinguishable from water on a calorie sheet, and the fourth is 103 calories. If your goal is weight loss, black brewed coffee, iced or hot, is the pick — you can drink it all day and never reach 20 calories. If you want coffee to do something for hunger, only the latte qualifies, and it does it with 2.81 g of protein per 100 g from milk rather than anything the beans contribute. Espresso is the one people misjudge: it reads as the concentrated option, but a single shot is three calories, less than a mug of drip.
Most popular mug of coffee brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| STOK Cold Brew Coffee Black | 4 cal |
| STOK Unsweet Cold-Brew Coffee Shot | 77 cal |
| STOK Cold Brew Coffee Black Chocolate | 19 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Mug of coffee FAQs
How many calories are in a mug of coffee?
A 12 fl oz mug of black brewed coffee is 4 calories, based on 1 calorie per 100 g and 360 g of liquid in the mug. An 8 fl oz cup is 2 calories and a 16 fl oz mug is 5. Milk and sugar are what change that.
Is black coffee zero calories?
Not quite zero: 1 calorie per 100 g, so 4 in a 12 fl oz mug and 5 in a 16 fl oz one. Three large mugs across a day come to 15 calories. Nutrition labels round amounts that small down to nothing, but the USDA record still keeps the digit.
How many calories in a 12 oz cup of coffee?
Four calories — 12 fl oz of brewed coffee weighs 360 g, and at 1 calorie per 100 g that lands on 4. A lighter breakfast-blend roast in the USDA data runs 2 calories per 100 g, which by our own arithmetic would put the same mug near 7.
Does decaf coffee have calories?
Decaffeinated brewed coffee is 0 calories per 100 g in the USDA data, so a 12 fl oz mug rounds to 0 as well. The gap against regular coffee is a single calorie per 100 g, real in the record and invisible in a day of eating. Caffeine changes, calories do not.
How many calories in instant coffee?
Reconstituted instant coffee is 3 calories per 100 g, so an 8 fl oz cup of 240 g is 7 calories — more than a full 12 fl oz mug of brewed coffee at 4. The granules dissolve entirely and bring 0.63 g of carbohydrate per 100 g that filtered coffee leaves behind.
How many calories in a shot of espresso?
A 1 fl oz restaurant shot weighs 30 g and is 3 calories. Espresso is 9 calories per 100 g, nine times as dense as brewed coffee, but the serving is tiny, so one shot beats a whole 8 fl oz cup of drip by exactly one calorie. Density loses to portion size.
How many calories does milk add to coffee?
A 1-cup caffè latte is 103 calories against 2 for the same cup of black coffee, so about 101 calories come from the milk — our arithmetic across two USDA records. The latte record carries 4.06 g of milk sugar and 2.81 g of protein per 100 g; black coffee carries neither.
How much potassium is in a mug of coffee?
A 12 fl oz mug has 176 mg of potassium, 4% of the 4,700 mg Daily Value, from 49 mg per 100 g. It is the only line on the panel that registers at all: sodium is 7 mg, under 1%, while fat, carbohydrate and protein are effectively nil.
Similar foods
- Lime juice — 11 cal per Juice of 1 lime
- Cappuccino — 65 cal per cup (8 fl oz)
- Sweet tea — 119 cal for 12 fl oz glass
- Tonic Water — 124 cal per can or bottle (12 fl oz)
- Root beer — 152 cal for 12 fl oz glass
- Apple cider — 114 cal per cup
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the mug and BodyPal counts it for you, milk and all.
