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> be aware that in most studies a cup of coffee is only 8 ounces Are we sure? The standard USA measure for a cup of coffee is a 6 ounces. (Evidence: search Goo

> be aware that in most studies a cup of coffee is only 8 ounces Are we sure? The standard USA measure for a cup of coffee is a 6 ounces. (Evidence: search Google on how much grounds you use per cup of coffee.) Speaking of, how much grounds are used per cup in the research, and what kinds of grounds are used? This has perplexed me for years, and the looseness in the three factors makes a big difference in how much caffeine or other “coffee stuff” one consumes.

chrisseaton 6y ago
> The standard USA measure for a cup of coffee is a 6 ounces. I don't know if these things are really 'standardised' at all. Who'd have responsibility to do that?
- DebtDeflation 6y ago
  I just checked the bottom of my coffee cup and it says 22 oz. So clearly not standardized.
  - tuatoru 6y ago
    22 US fluid ounces is 650 ml, which is 2.6 standard metric cups of 250 ml. That's a large coffee cup; I hope you're not drinking espresso strength coffee!
  - AuthorizedCust 6y ago
    No, you’re comparing apples and oranges. It happens that the word cup can mean both an object you’re holding (your example) and a standard measurement for one particular drink (my example), and the two can have different measures.
- AuthorizedCust 6y ago
  The definition of “standard” is more expansive than what you’re using. Per Merriam-Webster dictionary, a definition of standard is “something established by authority, custom, or general consent as a model or example”.
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    A Starbucks 'short' is 8 'ounces'. I'm not sure you can really call 6 'ounces' standard when basic places like Starbucks don't do it that way, can you?
    - AuthorizedCust 6y ago
      Check Google. Searching on this suggests a strong basis for 6 oz being a customary standard. https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/25041/is-a-cup-on-a-coffee-maker-always-6-oz-is-this-a-standard-in-the-us https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/25041/is-a-cup-o... seems to back this up.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
forinti 6y ago
Americans drink really watered down coffee. In Brazil we would call it chafé (coffee tea). I've had espressos in Colombia and Portugal that probably had more caffeine than in a mug of what Americans drink. So volume doesn't really say much.
- ragnese 6y ago
  > Americans drink really watered down coffee. In Brazil we would call it chafé (coffee tea). Do we? How do Brazilians prepare a cup of coffee? Is the process different or do you just use a lot more grounds per amount of water?
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    > Americans drink really watered down coffee. > Do we? An 'Americano' is literally watered down coffee.
    - AuthorizedCust 6y ago
      From an American perspective, it’s diluted espresso. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffè_Americano https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffè_Americano. Yes, I know, espresso is a kind of coffee, but it’s not what Americans are referring to as when they say “coffee”.
    - ragnese 6y ago
      As /u/AuthorizedCust said, I've always understood an Americano to be water + espresso, which is different than what I'd call a normal cup of (American?) coffee. Do Brazilians drink what I call espresso and call it coffee?
- jcfrei 6y ago
  Just wanted to reply here because you're unnecessarily condescending about American coffee. While I'm no fan of drip coffee either the caffeine content is actually higher than in the espressos you mentioned (unless Portuguese and Colombian espresso is somehow wildly different from the Italian one).
dcolkitt 6y ago
I’ve looked into this before. The answer is that, unlike alcohol, there’s no standard unit of coffee. When researchers say X cups of coffee, they’re entirely relying on their respondents’ personal reporting. So the answer is your best bet is to assume a cup of coffee is about what the average person would call a cup.
- AuthorizedCust 6y ago
  There’s a 6 oz. standard coffee cup in a “that’s our custom” sense. It’s what’s referenced on many ground coffee bags. Also, https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/25041/is-a-cup-on-a-coffee-maker-always-6-oz-is-this-a-standard-in-the-us https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/25041/is-a-cup-o....
  - dcolkitt 6y ago
    Yeah, but none of the academic research on coffee will qualify this to their survey respondents. They just ask how many cups per day, then write it down. Whereas most of the research on alcohol consumption will go in detail about drink size and strength then translate to standard units.
    - AuthorizedCust 6y ago
      I agree, which is why I have concerns about this research.
      - Balgair 6y ago
        Why though? Yes, you are not controlling for the amount of coffee consumed. But that should cancel out in a population based study. The null hypothesis should be that humans drink coffee in a gaussian distributed way (not like with alcohol where the consumption is exponentially distributed). If you then randomly sample from that coffee drinker population (again, gaussian distributed), you can then control for variations in the coffee consumption by comparing the averages of coffee drinkers to non-drinkers. But, yes, this does center around the hypothesis that coffee consumption is normally distributed. To confirm that I'd assume that there has been some research done on coffee consumption. Research that I have not done, to be clear. But I with no priors, I'd assume a normal distribution, because, well, darn near everything in bio is normally distributed.
dnhz 6y ago
If you brew 6 oz of water, some amount will be left in the grounds, adding further ambiguity to the size of a cup. I've seen 5 oz and 4 oz definitions too.

chrisseaton 6y ago

> The standard USA measure for a cup of coffee is a 6 ounces. I don't know if these things are really 'standardised' at all. Who'd have responsibility to do that?

DebtDeflation 6y ago
I just checked the bottom of my coffee cup and it says 22 oz. So clearly not standardized.
- tuatoru 6y ago
  22 US fluid ounces is 650 ml, which is 2.6 standard metric cups of 250 ml. That's a large coffee cup; I hope you're not drinking espresso strength coffee!
- AuthorizedCust 6y ago
  No, you’re comparing apples and oranges. It happens that the word cup can mean both an object you’re holding (your example) and a standard measurement for one particular drink (my example), and the two can have different measures.
AuthorizedCust 6y ago
The definition of “standard” is more expansive than what you’re using. Per Merriam-Webster dictionary, a definition of standard is “something established by authority, custom, or general consent as a model or example”.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  A Starbucks 'short' is 8 'ounces'. I'm not sure you can really call 6 'ounces' standard when basic places like Starbucks don't do it that way, can you?
  - AuthorizedCust 6y ago
    Check Google. Searching on this suggests a strong basis for 6 oz being a customary standard. https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/25041/is-a-cup-on-a-coffee-maker-always-6-oz-is-this-a-standard-in-the-us https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/25041/is-a-cup-o... seems to back this up.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]

forinti 6y ago

Americans drink really watered down coffee. In Brazil we would call it chafé (coffee tea). I've had espressos in Colombia and Portugal that probably had more caffeine than in a mug of what Americans drink. So volume doesn't really say much.

ragnese 6y ago
> Americans drink really watered down coffee. In Brazil we would call it chafé (coffee tea). Do we? How do Brazilians prepare a cup of coffee? Is the process different or do you just use a lot more grounds per amount of water?
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  > Americans drink really watered down coffee. > Do we? An 'Americano' is literally watered down coffee.
  - AuthorizedCust 6y ago
    From an American perspective, it’s diluted espresso. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffè_Americano https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffè_Americano. Yes, I know, espresso is a kind of coffee, but it’s not what Americans are referring to as when they say “coffee”.
  - ragnese 6y ago
    As /u/AuthorizedCust said, I've always understood an Americano to be water + espresso, which is different than what I'd call a normal cup of (American?) coffee. Do Brazilians drink what I call espresso and call it coffee?
jcfrei 6y ago
Just wanted to reply here because you're unnecessarily condescending about American coffee. While I'm no fan of drip coffee either the caffeine content is actually higher than in the espressos you mentioned (unless Portuguese and Colombian espresso is somehow wildly different from the Italian one).

dcolkitt 6y ago

I’ve looked into this before. The answer is that, unlike alcohol, there’s no standard unit of coffee. When researchers say X cups of coffee, they’re entirely relying on their respondents’ personal reporting. So the answer is your best bet is to assume a cup of coffee is about what the average person would call a cup.

AuthorizedCust 6y ago
There’s a 6 oz. standard coffee cup in a “that’s our custom” sense. It’s what’s referenced on many ground coffee bags. Also, https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/25041/is-a-cup-on-a-coffee-maker-always-6-oz-is-this-a-standard-in-the-us https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/25041/is-a-cup-o....
- dcolkitt 6y ago
  Yeah, but none of the academic research on coffee will qualify this to their survey respondents. They just ask how many cups per day, then write it down. Whereas most of the research on alcohol consumption will go in detail about drink size and strength then translate to standard units.
  - AuthorizedCust 6y ago
    I agree, which is why I have concerns about this research.
    - Balgair 6y ago
      Why though? Yes, you are not controlling for the amount of coffee consumed. But that should cancel out in a population based study. The null hypothesis should be that humans drink coffee in a gaussian distributed way (not like with alcohol where the consumption is exponentially distributed). If you then randomly sample from that coffee drinker population (again, gaussian distributed), you can then control for variations in the coffee consumption by comparing the averages of coffee drinkers to non-drinkers. But, yes, this does center around the hypothesis that coffee consumption is normally distributed. To confirm that I'd assume that there has been some research done on coffee consumption. Research that I have not done, to be clear. But I with no priors, I'd assume a normal distribution, because, well, darn near everything in bio is normally distributed.

dnhz 6y ago

If you brew 6 oz of water, some amount will be left in the grounds, adding further ambiguity to the size of a cup. I've seen 5 oz and 4 oz definitions too.